Split (1)

train · 353k rows

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[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	"Dragons Teeth" "What?" snarled the ambassador of Grrekxt Empire The weakling human gave him what accounts as a sad smile among those primates "In our mythology there is the story of when a dragon is defeated, its teeth spread across the field slumbering for the future. Once called, each awakens as a new Dragon, ready to rampage once more" "So what? you fluff yourself up with some beast as if you entire species isnt one of cowards. You have been given your ultimatum, you will submit to our empire, or your federation will be ground to dust." A heavy sigh "A Dragon is a mighty beast, indomitable and unbreakable except through the hardest opposition. It is the creature we show on our flag, curled around Earth, our lost home. Have you never once questioned why we have chosen such a display when we so openly embrace pacifism?" "You should take that call" as he said that the ambassadors communicator ringed and he snarled a angry tone towards whoever dared interupt him. Mere seconds later his aggresive stance flattened. "You have assaulted our colonies, our civilians, murdered children and innocents. The Dragons have answered the call." A hundred lightyears away within the Grrekxt borders, thousands of ships emerge from impossible fractures in realspace and without word begin firing. Weapons impossible to describe tear fleets and moons apart with equal ease. This is why humans have no home. Their War does not know anything but the absolute elimination of the other. The Total Annihilation of their opponent. "We have chosen peace not because we fear War. But because our species revels in it." Ambassador Johns said before firing his hidden weapon.	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Insects. That was what the Grand One always called the human race. He had called them weak, cowardly beings with no strength to speak of- to an extent that was true. Their physical bodies lacked any meaningful power, and it was almost nothing in comparison to the mighty bodies of the Sidernia people. But they were by no means cowards, and they were by no means weak. Their technology more than made up for their lack of physical prowess, and their hearts were just as brave as their minds were smart. It was astounding. The humans had always avoided war before. They were excellent diplomats and were adept at reaching agreements with others, normally to minimal loss for themselves. They would normally abstain from any wars that were fought as well, lending only technological and humanitarian aid. The Grand One had taken this as a sign of weakness. He had convinced the whole Sidernian people this as well. He had convinced them to wage war on the human worlds. He had made a grave mistake. Initially the Conquest went well. A quick and powerful assault on many of the border worlds lead to massive leaps into the human territories. The Sidernian militaries power and ferocity drew swaths of death on the human systems serene canvas. But then the war began to stall. In barely three months into the war, the human worlds began fighting much harder, digging their heels into the ground and forcing every Sidernian step to be fought for. Nine months in, and full force battles were being waged once again, with human military efforts beginning to turn back Sidernian offense. A year in, the human races main blockade fell, and Sidernian forced began to surge into the system center- and were slaughtered. A message was broadcast through every frequency in the universe, sent from the human birth-world of Earth. "There are three things all wise beings fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man. Congratulations Sidernian people, you have provoked the wrath of the gentle human race. We attempted to end things with peace. We tried to reason with you. Then it became evident words will not work. You have now invoked our wrath Sidernians, and I am sorry that you did." The video cut to the scene of a massive ship graveyard. Thousands of ships, all with the Sidernian seal and make, floated in open space, many torn asunder, other blasted to bits. "This is your final warning to withdraw from human space Sidernian Grand One, or this trail of destruction will follow you deep into your own lands. You have been warned." The transmission ended there, but the Sidernians war did not. A month later, hundreds of thousands of human ships appeared in the war zone, each ship manned by thousands upon thousands of humans. Each and every ship was outfitted with powerful weaponry and state of the art shields, and their soldiers outfitted with anything from a state of the art plasma rifle to a basic pea-shooter. A matter of months later, the Sidernian Empire fell. A combination of overwhelming force from the human race and infighting from the Sidernian people lead the entire system into destruction. As the universe looked on in awe, the human nation declared the war over, claiming half of the Sidernian Empire and reaffirming the respect the universe had for the human race. The whole universe learned that indeed, the wrath of the gentle man was one thing that should always be truly feared.	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	From the chornicles of the last days of Etheria, Author unknown: We are not going to win this war. Nobody could win this. We have to end it, to surrender, to run, to do something but we can not win. At first everything was going fine for us. We were winning battles, every battle. Nothing they did could stop us. And in our victories we became cruel and evil. We really left them no choice. What else could they have done? Wait for their extinction? Desperate times lead to desperate measures and we made them so very desperate. The first stories started to be whispered in the third year of the war. I thought it were ghost stories. We were, at most, one year away from completely wiping them from the face of the galaxy. Of course they would try to spread propaganda to make us slow down. That was, until I saw it myself. It wasn't all of them. Maybe 1 in 5000. Maybe less, maybe more. But those few, they had done something to them. They wouldn't die anymore. I shot him. I know I shot him. Square in the center of the chest. And he fell. I saw the blood on the ground but then he got back up. He just got back up and kept coming. And I shot him again. And he got back up. In the end, he got hit by an explosion. With enough damage they don't come back. But he killed dozens of ours before. I am sure they feel the pain. I heard them scream as they are hit and when we managed to capture one and experiment on him he even cried. They feel the pain but they don't slow down and they do not stop...and they learn. What type of species does that to themselves? What type of species turns themselves into monsters? And what type of people will keep running head on into death over and over again? We call them "the numbers" now. Each one of them has a number written on their shoulder, the number of deaths they faced. Last week I saw one attacking a fortified position. 50 of our people inside, one of him. His number was 378. He learned from 378 mistakes. He had the experience of 378 deaths and probably taken 20 times that number of lives. Even if we had a reliable way to kill them, we couldn't stop them. This one didn't even get shot once in that assault. He just went through our defenders like they were sheep being slaughtered. But that's not even the worst thing. 1 in 5000, we could deal with. it's not that many. Heavy caliber shots to the head or explosions work. Maybe we would have to sacrifice some of our men but we could do it. But the humans rallied behind the numbers. With hope came the will to fight and with that every man and woman became a warrior, all with the same determination as the numbers. Those who can't die lead those who aren't afraid to. Those who can't fight anymore work to make weapons for those who can. Their entire species has turned themselves into a war machine. They fight, they train, they build. They do not stop. That first time I saw a number is now 7 years ago. The tide of the war has shifted long ago. I can't even remember the last time I heard about a victory on our side. That battle 6 months ago where they retreated after having killed 5 times as many of us as we killed of them? Should we call that a victory? We pulled all we had together for that fight and they retreated, regrouped, hit our unguarded flanks and broke our line the next day. Nobody who "won" that battle ever left the site of it. They encircled them and killed them all. Our leadership still hopes they can win. They hope some new technology or new allies will turn the tide of battle. It wont. Nothing can stop people like that. We have made a terrible mistake. We thought they wanted peace because they were afraid of fighting. That wasn't true. They wanted peace because they were afraid of what fighting again would turn them into. They knew that, deep down, they were warriors and monsters. They were afraid to ever let that side of them out again. I can only pray that they will forgive us this mistake. That they will want to be those good peaceful people again. Because we can not stop them. Only they can stop themselves. And if they do not want to, I am certain that the Etherian Empire will only live on in history books. If you ever read those words and find the humans to be a peaceful people who strive for diplomacy and friendship with all species, understand that this is their decision, not their nature. And if you make them abandon that choice, you will face a storm that you can't imagine. I can hear the sirens now. I need to get back to my post. They have already taken the access road and the second post yesterday. We have set up defensive positions but I don't think they will hold. But I will go out, I will man my station. I will fight like they do, without fear. I can hear the sirens. Our positions won't hold.	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We should have realized, should have listen, when Ensign Blaagk , played that recording he found from Earth's History. "It is our Love of Nation , our way of life , of those we serve side by side with. We Defend we Avenge, we sacrifice, we bleed, and we are willing to Die for this unique creation. We Have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you kno whats good for you. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down. We seen war, we don't want WAR. But if you Want WAR, there is one thing I can promise you, someone else will raise your sons and daughters." All at high command thought this to be a comedy broadcast of forgotten ages. It was soo funny how tough the Humans were acting on the show. It must not be real. Or so High Command believed. When the first wave of landing ships touchdown on the planet. The troops spilled out onto the open fields, still no humans there to meet them and bow down to our might. But when our troops marched away from the drop ships. That is when All Hell Broke Loose. The drop ships came under direct attack. within 30 minutes the Humans had captured all the drop ships. In 3 hours our own drop ships were heading into orbit and began attacking the mother ship. Painted on the sides of all drop ships "TOTAL WAR" Our ground troops had been ambushed several miles away from each landing site. The Humans had been hiding, in trees, under ground, in buildings, they dressed themselves like bushes, like rocks. Bombs, Bullets, Mortars, Rockets, Missiles slammed into our ground forces from every direction. Our troops had No time to get into formation, to get their kill ranks and squads formed up before the Humans cut them down. And cut our troops apart they did. Near one Landing site, Black clad small men with curved shiny blades dropped out of trees and cut our troops in half. Our comms channels was blocked by a Human saying repeating over and over, "Cry Havoc, and Loose the Dogs of WAR!" We Never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them The Mother ship has crashed into their planet, shield are down, all defenses are down, the crew is fighting compartment to compartment to try and hold the Humans back while they try and fix the interstellar emergency be-can. But the Humans destroyed the array in the first strike, and as soon as they breached the hull the made their way to command deck and executed all the officers there, by cutting their heads off, so the entire crew could see over vid screen. They then seized engineering and crashed the ship on purpose. There are Humans all over the ship. Those that are not fighting and killing the crew are stealing everything they can get their hands on. I am hiding in a escape pod , watching the monitor screens, Lt. Blaagk last living officer of Earth Invasion Fleet.	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The expansion into the Sol system was supposed to be the latest iteration in a pattern I had repeated dozens of times across my career. for civilisations falling just below type I, we would initiate first contact, and demand vassalisation. seventy five percent of all civilisations we encountered stopped at this step, in face of our overwhelming technological superiority it was the logical choice. The remaining twenty five mounted a quick but often bloodless defence, followed by an honorable surrender and assecsion to the empire. The humans of Earth returned our ambassador flayed and mutilated. The humans, who up until our arrival had been at each other's throats owing to petty tribalism and coveting each other's natural resources united virtually overnight against us. Nearly every object they produced was hastily retooled into a weapon of war. When we expended their supply of military atmospheric craft, they turned to crashing civillian transports laden with chemical explosives into our installations. The closer we came to defeating them, the more brutal they became. They hurled chemicals of crude noxious gasses at our soldiers, scorching their repsiratory organs. Platoons of soldiers that surrendered en-masse turned out to be infected with a genetically engineered plague tailored for our biology. Children approached our armored columns, seemingly out of curiosity, which we had seen before. Except these children had explosive vests hidden under their coats, remote triggered by a vengeful parent hiding in rubble nearby. We had been begrudgingly compared to "Romans" by more cooperative humans, refering to an ancient power that while imperialist, maintained a strong sense of professionalism and discipline. Yet in the face of such a brutal enemy, the discipline our combat units, trained for dozens of human years and battlehardened from dozens more of interplanetary campaigns began to break down. Twitchy commanders, suffering from a mental illness we had never seen, yet humans easily diagnosed as "post traumatic stress syndrome" soon gunned down approaching humans on sight, and prisoners were seldom taken. All this only had the effect of intensifying humanity's burning hatred for our empire. What should have taken less than half of their years instead took a decade, and four armies worth of reinforcements. Finally, we had reduced their regular militaries to haggard fanatics hiding in subterranean bunkers across the planet. Yet just before we breached the final bunker containing their leadership, and remaining military infrastructure, the leadership activated a network of missiles containing fusion warheads, hidden in previously unencountered submersible vehicles scattered across their oceans. If we couldn't have earth, nobody could. These missiles were not powerful enough to even make orbit around their planet, much less strike our staging bases on their moon. This told us that the humans had built such a destructive weapons system not for use on us, but on each other. The results of the campaign had a traumatic effect not only on our soldiers, but the entire empire. The value of earth was it's breathable atmosphere, a perfect target for colonisation. Yet in the push of a button, humans made a decade of war, the deaths of hundreds of millions of our soldiers, and quintillions of credits meaningless. We evacuated and quarantined Earth, and the entire system was seen as effectively haunted. I never saw another human again after their species' self immolation. Yet I remain haunted by one thought: If even a dozen breeding pairs of humans were to survive and persist, then our civilisation is in mortal danger. Their children would grow up in caves with respirator masks permanantly affixed to their heads, hearing tales of burning hatred, consecrating themselves as avatars of vengence before they could read. Even if it took a thousand years, they would crawl groaning and screaming out of the ashes until they could stand, and they would not sit until vengence for our crimes against their ancestors had been extracted ten times over.	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The great Kreen empire had ruled for millennia, ever expanding with trillions of souls on thousands of worlds all toiling away for the benefit of the Dai'Kreen, the God Kings who ruled with an iron fist. The Kreen first learned of the humans through rumors of encounters on the outer fringes of the empire. Stories of underwhelming ships approaching Kreen vessels, attempting to hail them with declarations of peace and desire for trade. The humans knew not of the ways of the Kreen, the Kreen have no need for trade, they take what they desire, nor do they care for peace, the only peace is subjugation under the Dai'Kreen. Conflict began gradually, the negotiations of the humans, begging for peace, groveling for the mercy of the Dai'Kreen to "spare innocent lives" but the Kreen cared not for the wishes of lesser beings. The Dai'Kreen were destined to own the galaxy and any within it belonged to the empire, the Kreen would enlighten the humans of this truth. The Dai'Kreen gave the humans one last warning. "Hundreds of races have faced the might of the Kreen empire and all have fallen. Those who willingly embraced the empire were accepted with open arms. Prepare your world's for Kreen rule, yield to the empire and we will be lenient. Resist and face decimation." The human's reply was slow coming, but brief. "So be it." The Dai'Kreen struck first. The skies of a dozen human worlds were shattered at once as rift gates opened high above them. Relativistic darts, rods of ultra high density material accelerated to near the speed of light, tore through the rifts and impacted the human worlds with phenomenal force. Planets broke, billions died in an instant. The Kreen expected humanity to fold in the face of such horror, but the Dai'Kreen did not know humans. They did not know that every major scientific advancement in human history had been a a direct result of conflict. They didn't know that humanity had unlocked the power of the atom all in an attempt to more efficiently kill their own kind. The Kreen did not know that humanity had pushed itself to the brink of extinction on multiple occasions because of precisely how effecient they were at warfare. The Dai'Kreen did not know they were not the first empire to make this grave mistake in judgement. Billions of humans died in the initial salvo but the Kreen were unaware of the psychological effect that would have on humanity. The Kreen expected the humans to see the destruction caused and be awestruck by its majesty, paralyzed in the face of annihilation. They were not aware of the single most unique trait of the humans. Tenacity. When the humans broke the seals on the Armory Wolrds that housed their hidden armadas, hundreds of planet sized hangars released hundreds of thousands of warships all with the sole purpose of avenging the lives lost in the Kreen's techerous opening attack. Human fleets pushed deep into the core of the Kreen empire, world after world systematically pacified or liberated by the sheer overwhelming capacity for violence the humans possessed. The humans pushed the Dai'Kreen back to their ancient seats of power, the Throne Worlds of their home system. Here the remaining Dai'Kreen in a desperate attempt at reconciliation begged the humans for mercy. "Surely there is a way that both our great races can thrive? None could withstand the might of our great empires, together the Kreen and humanity could rule the galaxy unapposed." The encroaching human fleet did not initially respond, but they briefly held their fire. Seeing a potential the Dai'Kreen hailed them once more. "We hoped reason would prevail, we know now what a grave mistake we made refusing your attempts at peace -" The human's leader abruptly cut into the Dai'Kreen broadcast. "No, I don't think you realize just how big a mistake you made, but you will. You fucked around, now find out." Suddenly the Kreen sensors were blinded by thousands of simultaneous bursts of Gama radiation as the human ships tore open space time and jumped away from the Throne Worlds. Moments later another far brighter flash of light engulfed the Throne Worlds. The super weapon deployed by the humans during the lull in fighting had accomplished its goal, the sun at the center of the Throne Worlds went nova incinerating the Dai'Kreen and any left loyal to their rule. Humanity reshackled its weapons of war, returned to its ways of peace and continued to explore the cosmos under a white flag. Not because they feared for their own survival, but for the survival of anyone else.	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	As the fleet began final approach to the human’s home system, I can’t help but to think how the finale of decades of war originally started. The specie’s sin, as countless others have been, was intruding on our space. The Imperium cared nothing for reckless exploration and expansion, finding a safe path through the wilds of interstellar space was too dangerous for such reckless risks. But, if a xenos species was to stumble into our territory, it was nothing to follow their path back to a habitual world. In these eventualities, the High Council would raise an conquest force, drawn from all worlds, and continued to do so until all trace of the race was erased from existence. Then, and only then, would the conquerors be disbanded and settled on those worlds they had taken. The first encounter with the humans had proven them unsuitable to existence. Any animal will fight to protect itself, but the first of their species taken claimed that they have moved past such things. A laughable concept and they were the first of the vermin exterminated. Like every other time in the ages past, a fleet was being assembled. But, before it could be launched, another human vessel violated our space. Those on board claimed they were envoys of peace and only wanted to find a way to coexist with us. No reply was sent except the ion trails of our weapons penetrating their ship’s hull. The first worlds fell easily. They had defenses, true, even warships in orbit, but chronological scans showed the youngest was built a hundred years ago. As the fleet pushed deeper in their territory, the gravitational residue of their warp drives making easily followed paths through space, the worlds became harder to defeat. The warships remained old, the only recent construction found in the orbital shipyards were passenger ships, constructed in an attempt to evacuate the populations. Most of the time the only sightings of these ships was their engines pushing them into recently opened warp portals as they fled. The remaining ships and population fighting to the last in defense of their worlds. It was strange, though. Even though the warships kept getting older the further we went, their offensive capabilities improved with each engagement. What began as antiquated atomic weapons with chemical propulsion evolved to rail weapons launching high density loads at .99c. After years, we began to fight in engagements with ships wielding weapons that broke down the molecular bonds of their targets and finally canons that created artificial singularities that could destroy entire ships, crushing them to a infinitesimal mass in a single shot. It mattered not, because with an entire Empire constantly supplying new warships and warriors, the numbers would win out in the end no matter how they slowed us. Finally, only one system remained. From the intelligence gathered over the course of the long and brutal war, we knew their home system was fairly average. A main-type star, four rocky planets, four gas giants with large lunar systems, an asteroid belt, and several score of various sized planetoids. Most of the system was settled, and the humans were sure to fight harder here than anywhere else. Reinforced by every refugee ship that had been driven before us for all this time. The fleet exited our warp gates in the midsts of the system, where our stellar cartographers said their home planet would be, our engines cycling down for their recharge period. It was a devastating force of over 15,000 ships ready to overwhelm the planet in a single blow. The only thing there was a satellite orbiting the distant sun. There was nothing else in the system. No planets. No asteroids. The only thing our scanners could find were traces of dust and gas where our computers said planets should be in their stable orbits. I turned to my console as a communication signal was picked up from the satellite. It was a message on repeat that made my blood freeze in my veins as I realized just what kind of enemy we had so underestimated for so long. “Since the moment our species met, we have asked you for peaceful coexistence and you have responded with genocide. Every time your fleets appeared above one of our worlds, we would repeat our plea and you would ignored it. We hoped that if we would go far enough away, you would leave us be, but we learned that you would not stop. We knew we could not defeat you with the resources that we had used to expand our race to the starts. That it would take all that we had to end your aggression. What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done. Your stated purpose was to eliminate our race and take what was ours for your own. We will attempt the same and only one will remain when the last enemy falls.” As sensor readings began pouring in, the computer being overwhelmed as the numbers of reactors coming online rose over one million. The largest of the enemy ships, ten times larger than my flagship, and outnumbering it at least 25,000 to 1. Other ships classes were intermixed, including the ships that our forces would see leaving the worlds they arrived to conquer, but each and every ship scanned showed a single common trait: they were all younger than the age of the crusade. Every ship in the armada had been built since our first encounter. As the human ships warp gates began opening all throughout the system’s halo, one more sensor reading caught my attention. The sun at the center of the system was actively losing stability and was going nova. Our ships were to recently out of warp space and those engines wouldn’t be able to recharge in time to escape. The human’s message was still playing in the background and I realized, “What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done,” they meant everything. They were forcing their star to explode to destroy our fleet and were going to retrace our path before spilling into the Empire. I didn’t know if the combined might of our planets could stand against this, but as the distant star began to explode and my subordinates screamed at me for orders, I found I couldn’t bring myself to care.	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	It was at the Preserve Peace Committee meeting that the Radant ambassador rose - standing his full eight feet in height - and Cast the Dorples. The handful of obsidian shards released from his hands assumed the position "Rapid Change - High Energy". Some attendees sitting at the table looked around to see how other species had reacted, but most simply looked down, their postures indicating "Inevitable Sorrow". The poor Humans, so helpful. So helpless. The Radants were warlike, and had accrued their empire by conquest. The Humans were inquisitive, charming, and had built their empire through exploration, and a willingness to work hard to make even sub-par systems viable. The rich empire they now commanded was alas, ripe for the taking by the ever-hungry Radants. The Human ambassador looked carefully at the Dorples, and with one finger, gently nudged one until the bundle of shards shifted into "Contrition, Regret". The Radant barked in contempt. "No placating words will work this time Human, your diplomacy will avail you nothing." The Human ambassador sighed, and assumed the posture "Attend, I Explain". She spoke very softly, so that the other diplomats had to lean in close to hear her words. "Diplomacy does work. And I want to be very clear. When you ask for mercy, we shall hear your plea." The Radant simply glared in response. The Human shifted her posture to "Polite Regret, Imminent Departure". "Please excuse me, I must leave and help my species prepare". She then lifted the shards and Cast the Dorples anew, and then abruptly left. The shards fell into an unfamiliar pattern, that caused some consternation. Those with the subtlety to read the Dorples saw "Total War". What did that mean? Was it one of those idioms that Humans were so fond of? In any case, that was the last time any attendees saw the Human Ambassador Helen Cochrane. When next they saw her, she was General Cochrane, 15th Fleet, Commanding. Her armada consisted of some thirteen hundred Avenger class battle cruisers, a hundred thousand Katana class fighters, and fifty thousand other support vessels, repair ships, mining rigs, and so on. The 15th Fleet was one of over two hundred such fleets, and they had - after many initial setbacks - proved to be the equals of the Radants in battle, and subsequently their masters. The early Radant successes had been against almost unarmed Human vessels, ill-suited to combat, easily beaten. Yet the Humans had flown them anyway, and fought in them. With great sacrifice, they had slowed the Radant invasion just a little. But that was just enough for their newly built shipyards to come on line, and then the Radants had to face the Humans in their newly designed Defender class battle cruisers. This had stopped the Radant invasion entirely. And as the Radant forces waited for reinforcements from home, the Humans had developed their Avenger class ships. And produced them in prodigious numbers. Armed with weapons no one had seen before, of unknown potential, and seemingly invulnerable to Radant Annihilator beams, these new Avenger vessels had swiftly turned the tide of the war. Most of the much-vaunted Radant had been destroyed in a single blow at the Battle of Centauri Reach. The Humans had destroyed Radant outposts, military garrisons, indeed the entire infrastructure of the Radant war machine. So much destruction inspired awe, and in many quarters fear. No one could stand against the Humans, if they chose to make war, so great was their might. Yet in each system, they siphoned off part of their forces to help the Radants rebuild. Most of the Human forces were now scattered throughout Radant space, rebuilding space ports and solar harvesters, helping ordinary Radants rebuild their lives. And now the Humans were on Radant itself, meeting a peace delegation. General Cochrane approached the table where the Radant delegates sat. She took a velvet pouch from her pocket, and withdrew the shards within, and with great precision, she Cast the Dorples. They clattered on the table and assumed "Tempest, Destruction". One of the Radants gingerly reached out, and nudged a shard. The small pile shifted, and assumed "Desperation, Repentance". Cochrane paused and with a single tap, the shards now read "Watchful Benevolence". "War is a crime, and the ones who forced it upon us will pay, and justice shall be their lot. But let us turn our thoughts to peace, now." The Radants eagerly accepted the terms offered, and after a few years of Human rule, had once again become self-governing. The human fleet still existed, but had been de-militarised, and now most of it was in civilian hands, used as transport vessels, mining rigs, energy harvesters, and what have you. Did you know that you can still get surplus Human Katana fighters? They make great gas giant skimmers at a cost that is hard to beat. I think I know now what "Total War" means.	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We knew humans were weak. We knew they were kind. We knew they avoided every conflict through negotiation and diplomacy. We knew humanity had not wage war in over a thousand years. We knew humanity was one of the oldest civilization's, and yet, had the weakest army. We did not know their history. We did not know of the thousands lost at the hands of their own kin. We did not know the humans had learned what the universe was only just discovering. We learned. The Yuka's were a violent species. War was in their blood, and their rejoice in spilling their enemies. The union had keep them away from most inhabitated planets for centuries. And then...And then the Yuka's thought they had founded the weak link. They attack Earth. Earth was not ready. Earth burned (billions died. The oceans and forest humans had so painstakingly reconstruct from their ancestor's sins turned to ashes) (I have not heard a scream with such pain from my human friend before. I could do nothing but watch as she fell to her knees. I pitied her.) Humans were brought close to extinction, with only those in the colonies surviving. We were willing, of course, to take every refuge; they were, after all, a peaceful species, they couldn't possibly defend themselves. None came. They took what little ships they still had. They brought their children to the union, and declared war. None of them smiled. We thought it was suicide. We were right. The Yoka's had signed their death warrant. Humanity, they discovered, was not kind. Humans, they learned, had war in the souls (for how else can you explain the grieving mother that took down a warship by herself. The lone soldier that decimated three planet colonies. The army that had raised from the ashes of their pain). When the Yoka's had only their original planet left, they plead for mercy. They plead for their children. They beg for diplomacy. And, like Earth, they burned. ( "There's no one left" I didn't say, when I saw my friend again. "You killed thousands" I didn't scream, when she smiled at me. "You are a monster" I didn't murmur, when I look into her eyes (she knew) "What now?" I ask, instead. She leaned against me, looking at the stars. I try to ignore the knowledge of the amount of blood in those thin arms. "We build up again." She smiled. "We, humans, are good at that". )	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Torus took his seat at the table, one of 11 identical seats. As he glanced around the circle, his upper mouth twisted into a frown. Typically, the ten representatives of the Federation took joy in subtly outdoing one another at their meetings. This human insistance on identical seats set at a round table was perplexing. The way of the Federation was simple. Ten species ruled coequally. Other species joined as clients. To join, they accepted the extermination of two thirds of their species. The remainder took their rightful place in breeding programs, coupled with overhaul of industry and agriculture. This ensured the continued prosperity of the Federation. Occasionally, some future clients proved troublesome. For them, the Federation had the Ru'a. Kronan scientists discovered the Ru'a early on. A primitive species, but perfect for genetic modification. Now, all Ru'a we're clones. There were no females. Missing proteins in their cells ensured they depended on the Federation for survival. When needed, entire armies could be grown. When the Federation was finished with them, they thrown away. Few Ru'a survived past the age of 5. Torus looked up, gratefully, at his Ru'a guards. The humans had no idea what was coming for them. A door on the other side of the chamber opened and the human diplomat seated himself at the table. These diplomats - the humans thought they could talk their way out of their fate. Some suspected they even thought to secure full representation for themselves. Ridiculous! The human spoke, "We have reviewed the terms of Federation membership and, I apologize, but we do not find them acceptable. While your Federation is certainly a powerful force, we would prefer to take things a little slower. I am sure that, one day, we may sit together as friends, but for now, perhaps we should focus on building some preliminary trade agreements. There are many possibilities -" The human was interrupted by a fist banging on the table. Kruathanan, of the Ghorsh, never took kindly to resistance. "Silence, human," he hissed, "You talk and you talk. You wear your diplomacy like a cloak of protection, thinking it will keep you safe. Nothing can save you." The human stared at Ghorsh. At first, Torus thought he was frightened. After a few moments, he checked his timepiece and it became clear that he was merely thinking. Again, he spoke, "You are all so mighty. Nothing can match you for speed or strength. Your lives are counted in centuries. We humans are different. Like your Ru'a, every day is a struggle to survive. Our lives are short. Death stands over us, every moment of every day." "When Death stands over you, you can do one of three things. You can fight it, which is ultimately-" "-futile." Torus turned to his guard in surprise. All of the Ru'a seemed to have become oddly intent. There was an edge to them that Torus had never seen before. The human didn't seem surprised at all. "Exactly, thank you. The second choice is to run from it. We had a poet who once wrote, because I would not stop for Death, Death kindly stopped for me. You cannot outrun Death." The Ru'a all chuckled. Torus didn't know they even had a sense of humor. "The third option is to make Death your friend and companion. To learn from Death. To allow Death to make you wise. We have learned much. Patience. Forgiveness." He turned to look, again, at Ghorsh. "You think we engage in diplomacy, to wear this cloak, to protect ourselves? No, we wear it to protect you. In times of trouble. Kronans can turn to their intellect. Kruathanan can turn to their strength." He nodded at Torus, "The Tun can rely on their cunning. We humans have only Death. We can be your friend, or we can kill you all. I'm afraid there is no middle ground." He glanced at his timepiece. "I'm sorry, this is taking longer than I thought. We will not mire ourselves in generations of war, and we most certainly will not accede to your demands. If you will not be our friends, then know that Death is coming." He nodded towards the Ru'a. "These brave men are like us. They live with Death. But unlike them, we have not been made small by false gods. You sit with us at this table because you think you have taken the measure of our resistance. This is merely the beginning." Ghorsh, fool that he was, began bellowing all of the things he planned to do to the human diplomat. There were threats about eating his heart while he still lived. Something about burning the diplomats family alive. The diplomat looked... bored. During a pause for breath the diplomat interjected, "You think I made an empty threat. Make no mistake, Death is coming for you. Every one of you has a weakness. The Kruathanan atmosphere, for instance, is very fickle. It doesn't take much to turn it against you." He checked his timepiece again. "Approximately 3 minutes ago, a Terran raiding vessel was likely destroyed by your planetary defenses. Before destruction it released a compound into your atmosphere. By now, your sky is beginning to darken. In a few hours, your people will have suffocated." The color drained from Ghorsh's face. He began to rise from the table, but a sharp crack sent him slumping to the floor, tail twitching. One of his Ru'a guards had broken his neck. The other representatives were, likewise, dispatched. Torus found himself awash in pain as his head hit the table. The guard had snapped his first and second neck, but missed the third. He could only watch in agony as the Ru'a pledged themselves to the humans and watch in disbelief as the humans pledged to find a way to free the Ru'a from their enslavement. He listened to them as they planned their conquest, to free all the client worlds of the Federation and reforge it anew. One of the Ru'a noticed him watching. The last thing Torus heard was the snapping of his third neck.	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Admiral. A title relegated to the best of Naval Officers, a true leader. Farragut. Porter. Dewey. Fletcher. King. Nimitz. Kinkaid. Halsey. Spruance. Burke. The greatest Navy men in the United States, or so I have been told. In the Navy, it is one of the highest ranks one can attain. To be an Admiral is a great honor. So why do I not feel honored to take this position? Of course, I know why. I am in no way the intended person for this role. A traitor to my homeland, a deserter of my Legion, a guerrilla naval specialist, a "Tin Can Captain". And most importantly, a Krai-toln. The very ruling race of the Empire that Humanity is set on fighting. I know I have earned my title. My list of awards given by the Navy is long and impressive; the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroic Actions at the Battle of Mars, two Purple Hearts, one for the Battle of Sirius and one for Operation 'Achy Breaky Heart', the Navy Cross, the E. E. Evans 'Last Stand' Award for Actions at the Battle of Bernard's Star, and many more lesser awards. I know I do not belong here - yet, everyone says I do. Humans are the nicest, yet most terrifying race I have ever met. The closest phrase I can think of to describe Humanity is "Dignified Indignity", and that goes for their warfare, too. Where the Krai-toln uses lasers and electromagnetic pulses, the Humans use ballistics and atom-splitters. It is a totally indignant form of warfare, yet, under a orderly, calm mask of dignity. Yet, there is one form of warfare where Humanity is completely and utterly dignified, and would not dare stray into indignity: diplomacy. I have read of situations, misunderstandings, that back in the Empire would've been a declaration of War. Yet, as the young man tasked with bringing me 'up to speed' with history said, "cooler heads prevailed." I will say, there are no 'cooler heads' in the Kraii Empire. It is a nation of pure war, built to do nothing but destroy and assimilate. As much as I hate to say it, the Krai-toln people are much the same, told by their dictators what to think, what to say, and who to fight to gain "glory and power". I did not even know about the death statistics for Kraii Legionaries until I fled to the side of the Humans, into the arms of the US Navy, where they documented every kill and mourned every loss; a completely unheard of tradition in the Kraii Empire, at least under the current regime. 78.62% of all Kraii Legionaries sent into battle do not come back alive. Of that 21.38%, another \~20% are killed upon return to their commanding officers, being deemed either too damaged to be useful to the War Effort or being a failure to the Kraii Nation for having fled battle, even if that battle was already over. The 1-or-so percentage left alive are commanding officers, sons of rulers or commanding officers, or those rich enough to purchase the ability to fight another day. It is clear to me that a total war to Humans is a completely different thing to a Kraii "Always War". A human total war is a complete mobilization of a nation to defeat an enemy, temporarily expanding the armed forces to a massive extent with those willing to fight against those who have wronged the homeland they love. It is a last step along a path of diplomacy, a final option if all else fails. A Kraii "Always War" - the "Ker-to-wesyllison" - is a permanent state. All citizens must fight, make goods for the fight, or command the fight. Those who cannot are exterminated. There is no place for diplomacy, no place for peace, no place for health, only fighting and dying. It is really no wonder, then, that the Humans are the ones winning the war. Should a Human return from a battle injured, he is not killed, nor is he a failure. He is a hero, and is treated as such. What with the Kraii would be a practice only reserved for those at the very top of the command chain is common place with the Humans. It is amazing; for all my time in the Kraii Legions, I never once saw a medic. Here, it seems there is one around every corner, seeking people to help. A profession built on sympathy. And that is what separates Humanity from the Kraii Empire: Sympathy. One cannot heal, negotiate, learn from, or otherwise treat another being as an equal without some degree of sympathy. It seems to be a trait ingrained in humans, a natural response to any interaction, good or bad. It is even seen as a mental illness to not have any sympathy for other beings. This is far removed from the Kraii of today. I suspect we used to have ingrained sympathy; landmarks such as the Monument to Unity in the very heart of the capitol of the Empire attest to a much more Human-like past. However, any sign of this in today's Krai-toln soldiers is sadly uncommon. It is still there, shining to the surface in some occasions, even leading to defections such as mine. For most Krai-toln, though, sympathy is missing, bred out by their leaders to create a race of near-perfect warriors. Their near-perfect warriors are faltering. A human shot by a Krai-toln will most likely be healed and back in action within the month; a Krai-toln shot by a human and not rescued by humans will be most surely dead, left to die by the very government he fights for. Destroyed human supplies will be replaced by the end of the day by the hard-working men and women giving their all in the factories; destroyed Kraii supplies are only replaced when living workers can be found, the workers who made the previous supplies having already been killed for some minor mistake their government found intolerable. We will win this Total War, because for Humanity, and for it's allies, for those who believe in freedom, liberty, and individuality, war is temporary. Mistakes are forgivable. Sympathy is given to those who need it. And that is why, today, I stand here and accept the role of Admiral in the United States Navy. Not because it is what I deserve. Not because it is what my commanders declare. No, I accept this role because I truly believe in the ways of humanity, of sympathy, of diplomacy before war, of temporary war. I have seen what a total destruction of sympathy and diplomacy can do. I have seen the results of an "Always War". And I never wish to witness it again, and I shall do my best with the power I have been given to make sure an "Always War" is never allowed to occur again. I encourage all of you to do the same. -Admiral Jrell Vohanne Kelard-Synn, United States Navy "The Grand Acceptance Speech" - Given Aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, Docked at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, November 11, 2089 (Still an amateur at this - give constructive criticism, please! I am looking for all ways to improve!)	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	An excerpt from Species Relations Within The Tri-Galactic Sector, Kirkkolan F. [Hawkens Joseph trans.], G.I. 1445, Grand Triumvirate Library. #14. Newcomers ##III. Humanity While we might discuss at length the effect Tri-Galactic (relative) newcomers might have on inter-species relations, none is more deserving or paradigm-destroying as the self described Homo Sapiens, A.K.A Humanity. While the humans have only been apart of the Galactic Triumvirate for 400 intervals (the reader might recall that Spacrals had introduced themselves 3500 intervals ago, a difference of nearly a full power of ten), they have clearly made the largest impact seen in this ‘new expansion’ era, bringing peace to both lesser and greater species, and attaining a representative seat on the Grand Council in record time. Throughout this book I have presented each species through the lens of their First Contact War, but amazingly I cannot continue this tradition for Humanity as they did not have an FCW. Despite the fact that they made First Contact with the infinitely irritable and belligerent Monglas resulting in a small skirmish, the humans have noted that they universally celebrated this interaction across their controlled sectors. Above all, humans are social creatures, to the point that they have essentially forced themselves into a universal peace, lest they be unable to act socially with any of their own. However, this lead to a collective loneliness within their species, as they had yet to discover any trace of alien life. When I was conversing with an “anthropologist” (in short, a human occupation dedicated to studying their own distinct cultures), they described to me that the human race as a whole was experiencing a lack of social excitement as their own society had homogenized to the point where they felt an extreme lack of discovery. Their word for this is as strange as it is difficult to pronounce (for many of us without flexible mouths at least): “ennui”. This feeling of ennui became so strong that the goal of First Contact became an almost religious belief in their society, the one thing that would save them from ultimate stagnation. When humanity fought against the Monglas, they did not despair at faltering in the face of a technologically superior fleet, nor mourned the deaths of their comrades, but rather cheered that they no longer had to face the void of space alone. This led them to disrupting the Monglas’ usual singleminded violence as they translated and began communicating with the alien fleet in record time. While the Monglas fleet could not be described as ‘peaceful’ in this moment, they were so confused by the human reaction that they decided to simply retreat. The remainder of Humanity’s history in the GT will only slightly differ as, more so than any other species, they unilaterally push for peace and friendship for all. The reader might scoff at such a naïve goal for a species, but one only needs to spend a single evening with a human to understand that they truly desire only companionship both as an individual, and as an entire distinct society of beings. Some might argue that humans are a flawed, simpering species because of this. I would agree, however I encourage the reader to view this as a benefit to our great Tri-Galactic Sector, as it is a wholly unique culture among us, and one that has prevented many conflicts across the intervals. As we progress through the rest of this section I intend to present….. _______ Continued in comment replies	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	"Mx. Ambassador, I really do urge you to reconsider this. Contact your government, there is still time." Niobe Gudrunsdottir leaned forward, her face serious. "You don't want this war." L'hish smilled, xis ingestion mouth drawing a flat line that extended the full height of xis face as xis vocal orifices intoned musically. "You are mistaken. My government has been preparing for this for some time. No more of your smug, conciliatory diplomacy, your continual words and meager trade considerations. Your worlds will be ours. Your people will serve us. This is inevitable now. This has been a long time coming. We have prepared for your response. You will not stop us." Xe leaned back, watching his counterpart tap into her datapad and knowing that the Ylnak battlecruisers would already be deep into Human territory, preparing to strike key military installations painstakingly mapped over the last several years. A fleet built up over decades, kept in secret even as the Humans were monitored at every turn. At this point the Human Republic was outgunned an estimated 3-to-1, and the initial strikes would cripple their military production capacity by 25%, with much of the remainder to fall in the following few weeks. It would be a quick, fatal blow. A short war, as the Ylnak preferred. The general populace had no real taste for long conflict even as removed as the core planets were from the multitude of small border skirmishes. The plan was to win almost before the citizenry knew there was a war happening, let it go on long enough to get a few heroes out in front of the holocams, and celebrate another expansion of the Hegemon. "All the pieces are in our chains, your Vion off the board. This is catch-caught." "I beg your pardon?" Niobe looked up from her datapad, her voice calm, distracted. "Ah, you are not familiar with the game of Krtil. You will need to learn it, but for now the closest for you might be..." Xe thought for a moment, grasping for the Human word. "Checkmate?" Niobe nodded with an intellectual frown, as if learning some small piece of trivia. She punched a few more buttons on her datapad then looked up at L'hish. "If that is truly the decision of your government, and I really do wish you would reconsider, but if it is..." "It is. This matter is settled. Good bye." L'hish made to stand. "Just a moment Mx. Ambassador, don't you want to hear our counter offer?" "More of your driveling words? Hear you beg? Does the predator care to hear the bleats of its dying prey? No." L'hish was off xis bench and was halfway towards towards the door. "Oh, but I think you will want to hear it." Something in the woman's voice caught in xis ears, an edge he had never heard before, and xe turned looking at the woman. Her face was an open smile, but her eyes... L'hish had spent years negotiating with Humans and her face.. unsettled xim. Her mouth and expression were neutral except... her eyes. Set against her dark skin, they were an icy blue that had somehow become colder, harder. He didn't know how to read this expression. Xe walked back and settled down, not breaking the lock of eyes for a second. "Speak." "You aren't very familiar with Human history, are you Mx. Ambassador?" "Familiar enough to know you think yourselves past war. A peaceful people. A pacified, tamed people." "Ahh, a common misconception. You see, I am a student of history, Mx. Ambassador, so much so I have one of my PhD's in it. I have read a lot of history and in fact my thesis was an analysis organized militaries versus guerilla and insurgent forces. Tell me, Mx. Ambassador, have you ever read about Vietnam? Or Ireland? Or Afghanistan?" "Your primitive states are of no interest to me." "That's a shame. You see, we Humans study history so that we can learn from it, learn from past mistakes. But why would you study those? The Hegemon has always been victorious, hasn't it?" "It has. Our forces have won in glorious conquest for a thousand years. None can stand against the might of our armadas." Niobe smiled. "Indeed. The only limit to your reach has been how fast you can reproduce and build ships. But let's digress from that. In normal warfare you are unmatched so far, I will concede that as it is self evident. But if you had bothered to read the history of Human warfare, you would have learned something. A very important lesson that you could have learned easily and cheaply, and will now have to be taught, at great cost." "What..." L'hish began, but Niobe put up a finger as her datapad chimed. Xis irritation grew further as she tapped a few controls then nodded as she received a confirmation chirp. She turned back to xim. "The lesson? before I get to that, Mx. Ambassador, can you verify something for me? The population of Kloson on Hirga II is about 10.5 million, yes?" Xe was caught off guard by the non-sequitur, but gathered xis thoughts and replied. "I believe so. I don't see what that has to do..." "Humor me just a moment longer. And Huls on Jedatha VI, roughly 8 million?" "Yes, but..." "Ulkor on Lish III, another 9 million. I believe you have family there... a sibling?" "Yes. What does this have to do with..." "With my thesis? Nothing. And everything. They also have everything to do with that lesson I mentioned. Especially since they now no longer exist." Niobe calmly tapped a few controls on her datapad and the holo in the middle of the room lit up. Spread across it were news feeds from the Hegemon, showing satellite images of the unmistakable star bursts of nuclear detonations intercut with footage from the surface showing rising mushroom clouds as cities incinerated. L'hish was speechless, xis face slack in horror, dumbfounded as xe tried to process what xe was seeing. Xe turned as Niobe spoke again, her voice taking on a pedagogical air. "And now, your promised lesson: We don't play fair; we fight dirty as hell, tooth and nail with every fiber of our being. We will sacrifice anything, destroy everything, accept mutual annihilation as victory, and would rather be extinct than subjugated. We have had these safeguards in place for years, ever since we determined that you more than likely would decide to try your military conquest on us one day. I really hoped we'd never have to use it." "But... those were civilians... innocents... how could you do somethings so... monstrous?" Niobe laughed, a cold hard laughter that rang from the walls, that chilled L'hish to xis cartilage. "That's the thing, Mx. Ambassador. We are monsters. We have tried not to be, but here we are. It was the conclusion of my thesis: Humanity is made of monsters, monsters that need better ways. That is why I am a diplomat, to try and keep us from being such if we don't have to be. And then the Hegemon had to go and press that great big 'do not push' button. Shame." L'hish's comm buzzed insistently. Niobe sipped her coffee, and selected a nibble from a plate. "You should take that. I imagine the Council of Princes have something urgent to say. Let me know if they need more lessons."	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	I am Azar Himolin , former general of the inter-systems fleet. If you are watching this you are either a future officer of what remains of our might, a diplomat in training, learning why your first lesson is about leaving humanity alone, or enough time has passed for some classified documents to be released to the public without heads rolling. sigh I am not proud of us, us Kutyln as a species, us of the military, and especially not us politicians. What I am about to tell you is how we, the strongest might in the galactic cluster, started a war of aggression against a weak species and miserably lost. The Elders are the longest standing space-faring civilization in the cluster, and when a species reaches the point of crossing the void between galaxies they will establish contact. We joined the cluster super civilization that way and so did humanity, they are, or maybe were, the most recent addition. During the first century we found out that humans as individuals are prone to anger and quite belligerent, especially in small groups, but as a species they abhorred war, always resorting to talks, bribes and other shame they called 'diplomacy'. Only maintaining a small standing army to respond to minor aggressions and protect their peace. So, we decided to invade, we could take over a galaxy worth of ressources and it was already explored, with communication and transport channels. The first few offensives went quite well, a handful of patrol crafts utterly useless in front of our battle groups. Humans still clinged to their peaceful ways, asking for cease fire and talks. One day, the council decided to humour them and we received their diplomatic mission. One man. They send one single man, and it was clear to us that he was no diplomat, a high ranking officer in full uniform, a rugged fellow, a former soldier that fought his way through multiple conflicts. Why would they send what we could only think of a a fellow warmonger as a diplomat ? I want you to see who he was. Another video starts to play, a camera feed from the Kutyln council room "I am Thomas Glint, Colonel of the Milky Way Ground Forces, I come here before you asking for peace, asking you to leave the systems you've taken from us and pay reparations, you violated numerous laws set by the Elders and are standing right before Humanity's bottom line. This is an ultimatum and an advice, cease this war, do not cross this line. Do not mistake kindness for weakness !" The camera feed pauses, the voice of the general sounding over it We did not take those words to heart, that was our first mistake, remember that last sentence well, because it was the crux of it all and it haunted me for years after we realized what we did. Our second mistake was believing in the pride of a high ranked military man, in our form of pride. The image goes back to the general The following part is still highly classified and frankly quite gruesome. That man, Colonel Thomas André Glint, taught us everything we needed to know about humanity but we realized to late. We continued to berate him, and were prepared to end it, no diplomat ever came back alive, he was not to be the first and he knew it. He had a chemical bomb implanted before coming and it was not found be the multiple security checkpoints he went through. That man didn't have the pride to stand above all lower ranks like our officers did, he had the pride to go as low as needed for his people. The blast outright killed two councilmen, severely injuries five, two of which would also die soon after and all of us suffered for years of the aftermath. We learnt a lot during the war, we had to face humanity in its entirety as th whole population supported the war effort and rallied behind figureheads and standard bearers, never to surrender. Everything came back to the colonel: we had mistaken their kindness, we cornered them and we created a martyr. We had stood before their bottom line, and had we just taken a step forward maybe we could have backpedalled at some point, but we didn't just cross that line, we launched ourselves as far over as we could have. I am ashamed, I am weary, but most importantly I am sorry, sorry towards the young Kutyln for being one of those that lost our heritage, sorry towards humanity for what I did. Sorry I did not understand what I was taught soon enough. Click (First time writing one of those, but for once the stories in my head wanted to come out. Any feedback and criticism welcome as I have difficulties stringing thought and thus paragraphs together and as English is not my native language.)	The sky burns. The ocean boils. The earth cracks and spikes towards the heavens. Earth is dying. Civilization fell. But you still breathe, so you will fight to the bitter end. You’re standing on a precipice, below is an army of fresh eating monsters stretched into the red horizon. Fields: Invaders from the nether realm. Dead set on the destruction of all life. They are legions. You are one. You like those odds. In your hands is a double barrel shotgun. In your holsters are a pair of silver magnums. Your back carries a machine gun and a rocket launcher. None have bullets. They are unnecessary. Dead weight. Rage is all you need. Their rage gives you strength. Their souls feed your weapons. Your bottomless rage shall spell their doom. You cock your shotgun. Its metallic clang sounds like heavenly trumpets. “Fiend Butcher!” A voice roars like thunder and yellow embers gather in the sky, creating the face of your greatest foe. “You have done well to come this far, mortal! Lay down your arms and face death, or I—The Great Usurper—shall torture your soul for all eternity!” You narrow your eyes and gaze at a giant cathedral in the distance. He is there, you can feel it in your blood. “I’m coming for you,” you say in calm guise as you blast the projection. “Fool! You sealed your fate!” the enemy says and fades away. The army below comes alive with war-cries and growlings. You leap down. Your mighty boot stomps on a field’s head, bursting it like watermelons. You aim your double barrel steel at its friends, and with a single squeeze, BOOM! three fiends explode into bloody gibs. “SKREEEK!” A tiger-shaped fiend leaps at you. You hold your shotgun like a baseball bat and smack its head towards the sky. You reach for your magnums and unload on the monster’s soft belly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tiger fiend’s intestines burst, as you feel hot blood pouring on you. The red liquid gets absorbed into your weapons and the enemy’s screeching soul heals your torn muscles. You switch to the machine gun and dash into the frey of teeth and claws. Each fiend you slaughter makes you faster, stronger, and more determined. You cut through the army from hell like hot blades, weaving your way to the Usurper’s throne while killing as many foes as your two arms allow. But try as you may, there is only so much genocide one can accomplish. But you’re not worried. No. For even if they are legion and you are one… you can hear metallic thunder booming in the distant sky. Not one, not two, but many… You can feel it in your blood that you’re no longer fighting this war alone. There are others, and they are just as vengeful as you. Good. They are legions, but you are many. You like those odds. You switch to your locket launcher, and use it to launch yourself across the crimson sky like a raging meteor. “I’m coming for you… and I’m not alone.” For the first time in years, you crack a smile and laugh.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We knew humans were weak. There wasn’t any possible doubt, as their military fleet was almost inexistant, and had for sole purpose to protect their ships against pirates. They only focused on diplomacy, and seemed to see any threat toward their world as a joke, saying that only a mad leader would declare war against another space empire. With all those signs, it wasn’t much a surprise when the Nexelion’s empire declared war on humanity. What was surprising however, was human’s plea to end this conflict immediately, else they would use the power of mutually assured destruction. None of us understood what they meant back then, and assumed it as an empty threat. War against humanity began as easily as the Nexilions had imagined, but as their campagne progressed, report of humanity abandoning their world to flee on untraceable ships began to multiply. Then, the first human ship crashed into a Nexilion’s planet, soon followed by dozens of identical ships. Those empty husk, only designed to transcend the speed of light were humanity backing of their claim, as a simple strike erased planets and their armada from existence, and for the first time, all empires felt fear facing an unblockable strike that would instantly erase a civilization. The Nexilion empire was reduced in a day to a couple of isolated planets, incapable of subsisting on their own. This, young ones, is the history of our lost empire, and the reason diplomacy became so important trough the galaxies, as no one want to share the fate of our people, the Nexilions. As for the humans, they are still out there, on their world ships, an invisible threat that almost devastated galaxies trough their of power	The Galactic Monarch knew very little beyond word of mouth of the Terran Forces or their population, but what they did know was that Terrans Used "False-stars" to hide their homeworld and it's surrounding system from other intergalactic nations. Not only do they Hide but they also send messages to potential enemies claiming to "come in peace" a ridiculous claim. These peaceful messages did not only make them look weak but to hear that they have never raged war against any other species besides themselves was laughable. So when the Galactic Monarch heard there was gold within their Terran system and that the Terrans homeworlds core was surrounded by gold as well they thought it would be an easily earned victory against these peaceful terrans. The orders were simple find the Terran homeworld decimate what little troops they have and begin the mining of their pathetic planets resources but as the battle comes just outside the Terran system they soon realized how wrong they would be. Captain Al'tek: "Your Majesty, the entire Armada has been deployed and are now in position to enter Terran space. The Terran Admiral is hailing in hopes of Peace" King of the Galactic Monarch: "Peace they say? What peace can space debris offer in the wake of a black hole. We offer no peace here, the Terrans will not be able to turn me away with peace. Ignore all hails and commence with the attack" //The Armada continues to encroach into Terran space// CA: "Your Greatness, they are attempting an Emergency hail" 'Final warning!" "Stop now or risk Total Annihilation." Kogm: "End all communication and engage them now! CA: "As you command your Greatness! All Battle cruisers prepare to enter Terran space in 5..4..3.. " click CA: "Your Majesty! We no longer have communication or visual confirmation of the Terrans or our forces. It appears we've taken massive casualties!" Koqm: "Send another Wave!" CA: "Your Greatness! Forgive me, but I don't think you understand." The entire Armada of over 5 million ships and over a trillion Galactic troops.. are gone.. every last one of them" I believe we are the only surviving ship." Kogm: "What!? How is that possible we've only just entered their system!? CA: "I.. I.. I don't know sir" What!? It looks like the Terrans are overriding our ships Comms." Kogm: "I don't understand, how this is possible!? How can these peace makers with no prior experience destroy our entire Armada!? I wan.. Chhchh* click "Attention* John Blake: Invaders this is Admiral John Blake of the Terran Ministry of Peace, I'm sorry to interrupt but we've had control over your comms the moment you decided to ignore our hails. I understand you are wondering how we've come to win this " battle "today when you call us peace makers. I must say, you really should have done your homework on our planet's History if you planned to defeat us. In fact, until very recently humanity has only ever known to be at war with ourselves.We've fought wars because of races, classes, rights, and intellectualism. No matter what we did or how much we thought we had progressed it seemed there was a war around every corner.. We developed weapons that would cause an insurmountable amount of pain and suffering to our world and peace never seemed to be in reach. That is until we had an encounter with beings of another world. We realized our differences, in the grand scheme of things, we're pointless and meaningless when compared to others in the cosmos. So we decided to make a change and end all wars in pursuit of Peace, and not only peace with ourselves, but with everyone in the universe. BUT we can Not forget our past or we would be doomed to repeat it, you see we know exactly what would eventually happen, someone always wants more. Whether it's, land, money or power there will always be someone who wants more. So we armed ourselves, every single one of our 17billion strong population. You see, Terrans are soldiers first and Terran citizens second so when we heard news of your Armada coming into our little corner of the universe we prepared a little welcoming party and launched millions of antimatter torpedoes the very second we took your comms because we know all too well that when someone like you wants more they aren't going to stop with a friendly word, we know that all too well. So we gave you more, more death and destruction you could ever imagine, in order to preserve our peace.But we know beings like you will always want more and more... so we will give you more, in the name of Peace.". "Launch the torpedos"
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	My kind has always seen violence as a pragmatic tool to get our ends. We don't indulge in violence out of any primitive instinct; we have long since killed those. To us, whom the humans call the Amphitilians - to note that we can exist in more forms of matter than they can, "war" has a been way to resolve in unresolvable. We have known of the humans for almost 100 Terran years, a period that we understand is less than half a generation to the humans of this time. The humans we have seen across their tiny colonies and mining belts were not warriors - there seemed to be no warriors across the sectors of space they had infested. We warned them for long to not come inside the boundary that our kind has controlled for as long as we can remember, but yet little seemingly unaffiliated groups of humans kept infesting every corner they could. And before long they created a network amongst themselves, infesting tactfully and with coordination across half a sector. At first, they were little more than an eyesore but within a decade they became an inconvenience in every outer area controlled. And so we did what we felt we must, we attacked them interplanetary ballistics and sent clean-up crews to their illegal mining colonies. At first, we crushed them without much resistance. The humans were poorly armed and had no training. But soon, we started encountering violent, out-of-control rag-tag groups and mobs. Suicide bombers, Stealth fighters, child soldiers - these are merely the surface of the horrific lengths this species was capable of. But that was just the beginning. What we didn't understand was that our infestation problem was an unauthorized migration of errant human groups and colony ships. But when their federations learned of what we were doing to exterminate humans across our sector - they did not take it kindly. "Total War" protocol was engaged by their federations against the Amphitilians across our entire sector. Their warriors were armed to the teeth, hidden inside mechanical constructions and energy weapons that were out of our league. And not to mention they outnumbered us ten to one, their warriors to our entire population. Their warriors were creatures of horror, that indulged in pain to satisfy their blood rage. Each of them proudly boasted a kill count, some even keep tokens of our kind they killed. Humans were no weak infestation. They are a threat to this entire galaxy. No, they are a threat to every type of civilized life out there. They do not negotiate, they do not honor their word, and they are not creatures of sanity. I send this message, not in the hope that we may somehow save our species. It is too late for us. There are less than a few million of us left now, limited to just one planet and its two moons. We will not live to tell our tale for another decade. So for anyone that might receive this message, be warned of the humans. Do not underestimate them, do not let them find you. And if you find yourself invaded by this hostile species, just run. If you run, you may avoid our fate. It is better to live somewhere than die protecting mere rock and space. Let our fate be a warning and a beacon. Do not mess with the humans. Hide from them. Run from them. Lie to them. But do not engage them in violence.	The Galactic Monarch knew very little beyond word of mouth of the Terran Forces or their population, but what they did know was that Terrans Used "False-stars" to hide their homeworld and it's surrounding system from other intergalactic nations. Not only do they Hide but they also send messages to potential enemies claiming to "come in peace" a ridiculous claim. These peaceful messages did not only make them look weak but to hear that they have never raged war against any other species besides themselves was laughable. So when the Galactic Monarch heard there was gold within their Terran system and that the Terrans homeworlds core was surrounded by gold as well they thought it would be an easily earned victory against these peaceful terrans. The orders were simple find the Terran homeworld decimate what little troops they have and begin the mining of their pathetic planets resources but as the battle comes just outside the Terran system they soon realized how wrong they would be. Captain Al'tek: "Your Majesty, the entire Armada has been deployed and are now in position to enter Terran space. The Terran Admiral is hailing in hopes of Peace" King of the Galactic Monarch: "Peace they say? What peace can space debris offer in the wake of a black hole. We offer no peace here, the Terrans will not be able to turn me away with peace. Ignore all hails and commence with the attack" //The Armada continues to encroach into Terran space// CA: "Your Greatness, they are attempting an Emergency hail" 'Final warning!" "Stop now or risk Total Annihilation." Kogm: "End all communication and engage them now! CA: "As you command your Greatness! All Battle cruisers prepare to enter Terran space in 5..4..3.. " click CA: "Your Majesty! We no longer have communication or visual confirmation of the Terrans or our forces. It appears we've taken massive casualties!" Koqm: "Send another Wave!" CA: "Your Greatness! Forgive me, but I don't think you understand." The entire Armada of over 5 million ships and over a trillion Galactic troops.. are gone.. every last one of them" I believe we are the only surviving ship." Kogm: "What!? How is that possible we've only just entered their system!? CA: "I.. I.. I don't know sir" What!? It looks like the Terrans are overriding our ships Comms." Kogm: "I don't understand, how this is possible!? How can these peace makers with no prior experience destroy our entire Armada!? I wan.. Chhchh* click "Attention* John Blake: Invaders this is Admiral John Blake of the Terran Ministry of Peace, I'm sorry to interrupt but we've had control over your comms the moment you decided to ignore our hails. I understand you are wondering how we've come to win this " battle "today when you call us peace makers. I must say, you really should have done your homework on our planet's History if you planned to defeat us. In fact, until very recently humanity has only ever known to be at war with ourselves.We've fought wars because of races, classes, rights, and intellectualism. No matter what we did or how much we thought we had progressed it seemed there was a war around every corner.. We developed weapons that would cause an insurmountable amount of pain and suffering to our world and peace never seemed to be in reach. That is until we had an encounter with beings of another world. We realized our differences, in the grand scheme of things, we're pointless and meaningless when compared to others in the cosmos. So we decided to make a change and end all wars in pursuit of Peace, and not only peace with ourselves, but with everyone in the universe. BUT we can Not forget our past or we would be doomed to repeat it, you see we know exactly what would eventually happen, someone always wants more. Whether it's, land, money or power there will always be someone who wants more. So we armed ourselves, every single one of our 17billion strong population. You see, Terrans are soldiers first and Terran citizens second so when we heard news of your Armada coming into our little corner of the universe we prepared a little welcoming party and launched millions of antimatter torpedoes the very second we took your comms because we know all too well that when someone like you wants more they aren't going to stop with a friendly word, we know that all too well. So we gave you more, more death and destruction you could ever imagine, in order to preserve our peace.But we know beings like you will always want more and more... so we will give you more, in the name of Peace.". "Launch the torpedos"
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We ravaged our planet with war. Nuclear weapons once turned our planet into a desert hellscape and we killed each other for shiny rocks and imaginary lines. When it was all said and done, and it was time to rebuild, we vowed to learn from the mistakes of our ancestors. We came together, no ideology worth another’s life. We grew our numbers, scrapped old technology and invented better ones. But old habits die hard. We knew we were peaceful, but when we found alien species amongst the stars, we knew not everyone would have learned the lessons we did a millennia before. We grew our Arsenal, and vowed never to use it unless absolutely necessary. No ideology was worth another’s life. Then, the Akshara arrived. A race of hulking creatures that took what they wanted when they wanted. We did not mind and told them they could have any planet not colonized by humans. We gave an inch, they took their mile. They took the planets closest to every human colony we laid down. Until the day came, until war came. They fired the first shot, or first thousand shots. They attacked every planet at once, a carefully planned engagement. That day, we decided we would be peaceful, and so would the rest of the galaxy. We used a quarter of our stockpiled technology, ships, and weapons, wiping out every ship near us first in 10 days. In 7 days, we bombarded every planet they occupied near ours. Every building, ship yard, house and school. Every trench, mess hall and bunker they had. We had terraforming technology to fix the planets, and we didn’t stop until every single Akshara was dead within 3 light years. In 3 days, we moved to their home worlds and did the same. We recorded everything and sent it in every direction across the galaxy. Today the galaxy would learn, we are peaceful. We are not harmless.	The Galactic Monarch knew very little beyond word of mouth of the Terran Forces or their population, but what they did know was that Terrans Used "False-stars" to hide their homeworld and it's surrounding system from other intergalactic nations. Not only do they Hide but they also send messages to potential enemies claiming to "come in peace" a ridiculous claim. These peaceful messages did not only make them look weak but to hear that they have never raged war against any other species besides themselves was laughable. So when the Galactic Monarch heard there was gold within their Terran system and that the Terrans homeworlds core was surrounded by gold as well they thought it would be an easily earned victory against these peaceful terrans. The orders were simple find the Terran homeworld decimate what little troops they have and begin the mining of their pathetic planets resources but as the battle comes just outside the Terran system they soon realized how wrong they would be. Captain Al'tek: "Your Majesty, the entire Armada has been deployed and are now in position to enter Terran space. The Terran Admiral is hailing in hopes of Peace" King of the Galactic Monarch: "Peace they say? What peace can space debris offer in the wake of a black hole. We offer no peace here, the Terrans will not be able to turn me away with peace. Ignore all hails and commence with the attack" //The Armada continues to encroach into Terran space// CA: "Your Greatness, they are attempting an Emergency hail" 'Final warning!" "Stop now or risk Total Annihilation." Kogm: "End all communication and engage them now! CA: "As you command your Greatness! All Battle cruisers prepare to enter Terran space in 5..4..3.. " click CA: "Your Majesty! We no longer have communication or visual confirmation of the Terrans or our forces. It appears we've taken massive casualties!" Koqm: "Send another Wave!" CA: "Your Greatness! Forgive me, but I don't think you understand." The entire Armada of over 5 million ships and over a trillion Galactic troops.. are gone.. every last one of them" I believe we are the only surviving ship." Kogm: "What!? How is that possible we've only just entered their system!? CA: "I.. I.. I don't know sir" What!? It looks like the Terrans are overriding our ships Comms." Kogm: "I don't understand, how this is possible!? How can these peace makers with no prior experience destroy our entire Armada!? I wan.. Chhchh* click "Attention* John Blake: Invaders this is Admiral John Blake of the Terran Ministry of Peace, I'm sorry to interrupt but we've had control over your comms the moment you decided to ignore our hails. I understand you are wondering how we've come to win this " battle "today when you call us peace makers. I must say, you really should have done your homework on our planet's History if you planned to defeat us. In fact, until very recently humanity has only ever known to be at war with ourselves.We've fought wars because of races, classes, rights, and intellectualism. No matter what we did or how much we thought we had progressed it seemed there was a war around every corner.. We developed weapons that would cause an insurmountable amount of pain and suffering to our world and peace never seemed to be in reach. That is until we had an encounter with beings of another world. We realized our differences, in the grand scheme of things, we're pointless and meaningless when compared to others in the cosmos. So we decided to make a change and end all wars in pursuit of Peace, and not only peace with ourselves, but with everyone in the universe. BUT we can Not forget our past or we would be doomed to repeat it, you see we know exactly what would eventually happen, someone always wants more. Whether it's, land, money or power there will always be someone who wants more. So we armed ourselves, every single one of our 17billion strong population. You see, Terrans are soldiers first and Terran citizens second so when we heard news of your Armada coming into our little corner of the universe we prepared a little welcoming party and launched millions of antimatter torpedoes the very second we took your comms because we know all too well that when someone like you wants more they aren't going to stop with a friendly word, we know that all too well. So we gave you more, more death and destruction you could ever imagine, in order to preserve our peace.But we know beings like you will always want more and more... so we will give you more, in the name of Peace.". "Launch the torpedos"
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The invasion was fast. Very fast. In only a few cycles, every single human planet had been subjugated by the so called Galactic Empire. Hundreds of billions of humans were enslaved, families torn apart, monuments destroyed. The emperor was very happy. How had no other civilizations noticed that the humans lacked a proper military? That their economical empire was weak, and open to invasion? With minimal losses, the biggest organization in the galaxy had been taken down. Oh, they tried to talk their way out of it. They tried to reach an agreement, a contract, they tried to bribe them. The emperor had felt insulted when he was presented with those offers. And so he had conquered them. But then, something started happening. Humans did not have any communication among them, spread through thousands of worlds, all under the Empire’s control, they could not possibly organize an effective resistance. And yet, in every single planet, small groups were attacking docking stations, refueling facilities, repair stations. All of the infrastructure was being destroyed by completely independent groups. The humans called it “guerrilla”. If the Galactic Empire sent resources to stop these guerrilla groups in one planet, three other planets would start attacking the weakened forces. And so it was that the empire realized that it was doomed. The harder they tried to force the humans into submission, the harder they fought back. It was almost like they knew they had nothing to loose, like that didn’t care about themselves, their families, or their planets. They only cared about destroying the oppressor. Not one battle was fought. There were no epic stories to be told. No super weapons, no incredible tactics. There was no propaganda, no martyrs, no grand objectives. And yet, the Galactic Empire was absolutely destroyed. The invasion had been fast. But the counter attack was slow, and bloody. In the end, a small group of humans managed to infiltrate the emperor’s ship and shoot him in the head before anyone noticed. They were killed almost instantly by the guards, but it was too late. Humanity reclaimed every single one of its planets, plus all of the planets under the Galactic Empire’s control that didn’t belong to enslaved civilizations. They sold the empire’s ships to rebuild their economy and become and even stronger force than they had ever been. When the dust settled, humanity was stronger than it had ever been, and the Galactic Empire had been absolutely obliterated. So it was that the rest of the galaxy understood the saying, “I fear nothing, but the anger of a gentle man”	The Galactic Monarch knew very little beyond word of mouth of the Terran Forces or their population, but what they did know was that Terrans Used "False-stars" to hide their homeworld and it's surrounding system from other intergalactic nations. Not only do they Hide but they also send messages to potential enemies claiming to "come in peace" a ridiculous claim. These peaceful messages did not only make them look weak but to hear that they have never raged war against any other species besides themselves was laughable. So when the Galactic Monarch heard there was gold within their Terran system and that the Terrans homeworlds core was surrounded by gold as well they thought it would be an easily earned victory against these peaceful terrans. The orders were simple find the Terran homeworld decimate what little troops they have and begin the mining of their pathetic planets resources but as the battle comes just outside the Terran system they soon realized how wrong they would be. Captain Al'tek: "Your Majesty, the entire Armada has been deployed and are now in position to enter Terran space. The Terran Admiral is hailing in hopes of Peace" King of the Galactic Monarch: "Peace they say? What peace can space debris offer in the wake of a black hole. We offer no peace here, the Terrans will not be able to turn me away with peace. Ignore all hails and commence with the attack" //The Armada continues to encroach into Terran space// CA: "Your Greatness, they are attempting an Emergency hail" 'Final warning!" "Stop now or risk Total Annihilation." Kogm: "End all communication and engage them now! CA: "As you command your Greatness! All Battle cruisers prepare to enter Terran space in 5..4..3.. " click CA: "Your Majesty! We no longer have communication or visual confirmation of the Terrans or our forces. It appears we've taken massive casualties!" Koqm: "Send another Wave!" CA: "Your Greatness! Forgive me, but I don't think you understand." The entire Armada of over 5 million ships and over a trillion Galactic troops.. are gone.. every last one of them" I believe we are the only surviving ship." Kogm: "What!? How is that possible we've only just entered their system!? CA: "I.. I.. I don't know sir" What!? It looks like the Terrans are overriding our ships Comms." Kogm: "I don't understand, how this is possible!? How can these peace makers with no prior experience destroy our entire Armada!? I wan.. Chhchh* click "Attention* John Blake: Invaders this is Admiral John Blake of the Terran Ministry of Peace, I'm sorry to interrupt but we've had control over your comms the moment you decided to ignore our hails. I understand you are wondering how we've come to win this " battle "today when you call us peace makers. I must say, you really should have done your homework on our planet's History if you planned to defeat us. In fact, until very recently humanity has only ever known to be at war with ourselves.We've fought wars because of races, classes, rights, and intellectualism. No matter what we did or how much we thought we had progressed it seemed there was a war around every corner.. We developed weapons that would cause an insurmountable amount of pain and suffering to our world and peace never seemed to be in reach. That is until we had an encounter with beings of another world. We realized our differences, in the grand scheme of things, we're pointless and meaningless when compared to others in the cosmos. So we decided to make a change and end all wars in pursuit of Peace, and not only peace with ourselves, but with everyone in the universe. BUT we can Not forget our past or we would be doomed to repeat it, you see we know exactly what would eventually happen, someone always wants more. Whether it's, land, money or power there will always be someone who wants more. So we armed ourselves, every single one of our 17billion strong population. You see, Terrans are soldiers first and Terran citizens second so when we heard news of your Armada coming into our little corner of the universe we prepared a little welcoming party and launched millions of antimatter torpedoes the very second we took your comms because we know all too well that when someone like you wants more they aren't going to stop with a friendly word, we know that all too well. So we gave you more, more death and destruction you could ever imagine, in order to preserve our peace.But we know beings like you will always want more and more... so we will give you more, in the name of Peace.". "Launch the torpedos"
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	It was strange. A civilisation which lacked war. Which sought out peace. Which endeavoured to save sentient life, to ensure conflicts were focused solely on the soldiers, the warrior class. The humans behaved in this manner. They treated war as a elaborate facade, to be regulated and controlled by pacts and laws and rules. Bizarre, but we had made common cause with stranger species. It was only when we encountered outpost 371 that we understood the intent of these rules. Outpost 371, a place that still causes the shaking of mandibles and the quivering of antennae. On outpost 371, we encountered the confederacy. Humans, biologically identical to the ones we had met before. Some lost colony, sent out before humanity had met us. Our scientists couldn’t understand how similar these creatures were. Because These humans lacked rules. Lacked empathy. In their first foray, they butchered an entire colony, burning nests without hesitation, slaughtering warriors and workers in equal measure. There were no calls for diplomacy from these humans. No asks for peace. Only barbarity. We counter attacked, only to find scenes out of our nightmares. Eggs cracked open for some horrendous ritual feeding called “breakfast”. Irreplaceable artwork crushed under leather clothes human boots. It was then that we learned the bizarre rules of the humans were not there to control us. No, they were intended to protect us, to prevent the darker elements of humanity from being used on intelligent species.	The Galactic Monarch knew very little beyond word of mouth of the Terran Forces or their population, but what they did know was that Terrans Used "False-stars" to hide their homeworld and it's surrounding system from other intergalactic nations. Not only do they Hide but they also send messages to potential enemies claiming to "come in peace" a ridiculous claim. These peaceful messages did not only make them look weak but to hear that they have never raged war against any other species besides themselves was laughable. So when the Galactic Monarch heard there was gold within their Terran system and that the Terrans homeworlds core was surrounded by gold as well they thought it would be an easily earned victory against these peaceful terrans. The orders were simple find the Terran homeworld decimate what little troops they have and begin the mining of their pathetic planets resources but as the battle comes just outside the Terran system they soon realized how wrong they would be. Captain Al'tek: "Your Majesty, the entire Armada has been deployed and are now in position to enter Terran space. The Terran Admiral is hailing in hopes of Peace" King of the Galactic Monarch: "Peace they say? What peace can space debris offer in the wake of a black hole. We offer no peace here, the Terrans will not be able to turn me away with peace. Ignore all hails and commence with the attack" //The Armada continues to encroach into Terran space// CA: "Your Greatness, they are attempting an Emergency hail" 'Final warning!" "Stop now or risk Total Annihilation." Kogm: "End all communication and engage them now! CA: "As you command your Greatness! All Battle cruisers prepare to enter Terran space in 5..4..3.. " click CA: "Your Majesty! We no longer have communication or visual confirmation of the Terrans or our forces. It appears we've taken massive casualties!" Koqm: "Send another Wave!" CA: "Your Greatness! Forgive me, but I don't think you understand." The entire Armada of over 5 million ships and over a trillion Galactic troops.. are gone.. every last one of them" I believe we are the only surviving ship." Kogm: "What!? How is that possible we've only just entered their system!? CA: "I.. I.. I don't know sir" What!? It looks like the Terrans are overriding our ships Comms." Kogm: "I don't understand, how this is possible!? How can these peace makers with no prior experience destroy our entire Armada!? I wan.. Chhchh* click "Attention* John Blake: Invaders this is Admiral John Blake of the Terran Ministry of Peace, I'm sorry to interrupt but we've had control over your comms the moment you decided to ignore our hails. I understand you are wondering how we've come to win this " battle "today when you call us peace makers. I must say, you really should have done your homework on our planet's History if you planned to defeat us. In fact, until very recently humanity has only ever known to be at war with ourselves.We've fought wars because of races, classes, rights, and intellectualism. No matter what we did or how much we thought we had progressed it seemed there was a war around every corner.. We developed weapons that would cause an insurmountable amount of pain and suffering to our world and peace never seemed to be in reach. That is until we had an encounter with beings of another world. We realized our differences, in the grand scheme of things, we're pointless and meaningless when compared to others in the cosmos. So we decided to make a change and end all wars in pursuit of Peace, and not only peace with ourselves, but with everyone in the universe. BUT we can Not forget our past or we would be doomed to repeat it, you see we know exactly what would eventually happen, someone always wants more. Whether it's, land, money or power there will always be someone who wants more. So we armed ourselves, every single one of our 17billion strong population. You see, Terrans are soldiers first and Terran citizens second so when we heard news of your Armada coming into our little corner of the universe we prepared a little welcoming party and launched millions of antimatter torpedoes the very second we took your comms because we know all too well that when someone like you wants more they aren't going to stop with a friendly word, we know that all too well. So we gave you more, more death and destruction you could ever imagine, in order to preserve our peace.But we know beings like you will always want more and more... so we will give you more, in the name of Peace.". "Launch the torpedos"
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	"Dragons Teeth" "What?" snarled the ambassador of Grrekxt Empire The weakling human gave him what accounts as a sad smile among those primates "In our mythology there is the story of when a dragon is defeated, its teeth spread across the field slumbering for the future. Once called, each awakens as a new Dragon, ready to rampage once more" "So what? you fluff yourself up with some beast as if you entire species isnt one of cowards. You have been given your ultimatum, you will submit to our empire, or your federation will be ground to dust." A heavy sigh "A Dragon is a mighty beast, indomitable and unbreakable except through the hardest opposition. It is the creature we show on our flag, curled around Earth, our lost home. Have you never once questioned why we have chosen such a display when we so openly embrace pacifism?" "You should take that call" as he said that the ambassadors communicator ringed and he snarled a angry tone towards whoever dared interupt him. Mere seconds later his aggresive stance flattened. "You have assaulted our colonies, our civilians, murdered children and innocents. The Dragons have answered the call." A hundred lightyears away within the Grrekxt borders, thousands of ships emerge from impossible fractures in realspace and without word begin firing. Weapons impossible to describe tear fleets and moons apart with equal ease. This is why humans have no home. Their War does not know anything but the absolute elimination of the other. The Total Annihilation of their opponent. "We have chosen peace not because we fear War. But because our species revels in it." Ambassador Johns said before firing his hidden weapon.	The Galactic Monarch knew very little beyond word of mouth of the Terran Forces or their population, but what they did know was that Terrans Used "False-stars" to hide their homeworld and it's surrounding system from other intergalactic nations. Not only do they Hide but they also send messages to potential enemies claiming to "come in peace" a ridiculous claim. These peaceful messages did not only make them look weak but to hear that they have never raged war against any other species besides themselves was laughable. So when the Galactic Monarch heard there was gold within their Terran system and that the Terrans homeworlds core was surrounded by gold as well they thought it would be an easily earned victory against these peaceful terrans. The orders were simple find the Terran homeworld decimate what little troops they have and begin the mining of their pathetic planets resources but as the battle comes just outside the Terran system they soon realized how wrong they would be. Captain Al'tek: "Your Majesty, the entire Armada has been deployed and are now in position to enter Terran space. The Terran Admiral is hailing in hopes of Peace" King of the Galactic Monarch: "Peace they say? What peace can space debris offer in the wake of a black hole. We offer no peace here, the Terrans will not be able to turn me away with peace. Ignore all hails and commence with the attack" //The Armada continues to encroach into Terran space// CA: "Your Greatness, they are attempting an Emergency hail" 'Final warning!" "Stop now or risk Total Annihilation." Kogm: "End all communication and engage them now! CA: "As you command your Greatness! All Battle cruisers prepare to enter Terran space in 5..4..3.. " click CA: "Your Majesty! We no longer have communication or visual confirmation of the Terrans or our forces. It appears we've taken massive casualties!" Koqm: "Send another Wave!" CA: "Your Greatness! Forgive me, but I don't think you understand." The entire Armada of over 5 million ships and over a trillion Galactic troops.. are gone.. every last one of them" I believe we are the only surviving ship." Kogm: "What!? How is that possible we've only just entered their system!? CA: "I.. I.. I don't know sir" What!? It looks like the Terrans are overriding our ships Comms." Kogm: "I don't understand, how this is possible!? How can these peace makers with no prior experience destroy our entire Armada!? I wan.. Chhchh* click "Attention* John Blake: Invaders this is Admiral John Blake of the Terran Ministry of Peace, I'm sorry to interrupt but we've had control over your comms the moment you decided to ignore our hails. I understand you are wondering how we've come to win this " battle "today when you call us peace makers. I must say, you really should have done your homework on our planet's History if you planned to defeat us. In fact, until very recently humanity has only ever known to be at war with ourselves.We've fought wars because of races, classes, rights, and intellectualism. No matter what we did or how much we thought we had progressed it seemed there was a war around every corner.. We developed weapons that would cause an insurmountable amount of pain and suffering to our world and peace never seemed to be in reach. That is until we had an encounter with beings of another world. We realized our differences, in the grand scheme of things, we're pointless and meaningless when compared to others in the cosmos. So we decided to make a change and end all wars in pursuit of Peace, and not only peace with ourselves, but with everyone in the universe. BUT we can Not forget our past or we would be doomed to repeat it, you see we know exactly what would eventually happen, someone always wants more. Whether it's, land, money or power there will always be someone who wants more. So we armed ourselves, every single one of our 17billion strong population. You see, Terrans are soldiers first and Terran citizens second so when we heard news of your Armada coming into our little corner of the universe we prepared a little welcoming party and launched millions of antimatter torpedoes the very second we took your comms because we know all too well that when someone like you wants more they aren't going to stop with a friendly word, we know that all too well. So we gave you more, more death and destruction you could ever imagine, in order to preserve our peace.But we know beings like you will always want more and more... so we will give you more, in the name of Peace.". "Launch the torpedos"
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	The Galactic Monarch knew very little beyond word of mouth of the Terran Forces or their population, but what they did know was that Terrans Used "False-stars" to hide their homeworld and it's surrounding system from other intergalactic nations. Not only do they Hide but they also send messages to potential enemies claiming to "come in peace" a ridiculous claim. These peaceful messages did not only make them look weak but to hear that they have never raged war against any other species besides themselves was laughable. So when the Galactic Monarch heard there was gold within their Terran system and that the Terrans homeworlds core was surrounded by gold as well they thought it would be an easily earned victory against these peaceful terrans. The orders were simple find the Terran homeworld decimate what little troops they have and begin the mining of their pathetic planets resources but as the battle comes just outside the Terran system they soon realized how wrong they would be. Captain Al'tek: "Your Majesty, the entire Armada has been deployed and are now in position to enter Terran space. The Terran Admiral is hailing in hopes of Peace" King of the Galactic Monarch: "Peace they say? What peace can space debris offer in the wake of a black hole. We offer no peace here, the Terrans will not be able to turn me away with peace. Ignore all hails and commence with the attack" //The Armada continues to encroach into Terran space// CA: "Your Greatness, they are attempting an Emergency hail" 'Final warning!" "Stop now or risk Total Annihilation." Kogm: "End all communication and engage them now! CA: "As you command your Greatness! All Battle cruisers prepare to enter Terran space in 5..4..3.. " click CA: "Your Majesty! We no longer have communication or visual confirmation of the Terrans or our forces. It appears we've taken massive casualties!" Koqm: "Send another Wave!" CA: "Your Greatness! Forgive me, but I don't think you understand." The entire Armada of over 5 million ships and over a trillion Galactic troops.. are gone.. every last one of them" I believe we are the only surviving ship." Kogm: "What!? How is that possible we've only just entered their system!? CA: "I.. I.. I don't know sir" What!? It looks like the Terrans are overriding our ships Comms." Kogm: "I don't understand, how this is possible!? How can these peace makers with no prior experience destroy our entire Armada!? I wan.. Chhchh* click "Attention* John Blake: Invaders this is Admiral John Blake of the Terran Ministry of Peace, I'm sorry to interrupt but we've had control over your comms the moment you decided to ignore our hails. I understand you are wondering how we've come to win this " battle "today when you call us peace makers. I must say, you really should have done your homework on our planet's History if you planned to defeat us. In fact, until very recently humanity has only ever known to be at war with ourselves.We've fought wars because of races, classes, rights, and intellectualism. No matter what we did or how much we thought we had progressed it seemed there was a war around every corner.. We developed weapons that would cause an insurmountable amount of pain and suffering to our world and peace never seemed to be in reach. That is until we had an encounter with beings of another world. We realized our differences, in the grand scheme of things, we're pointless and meaningless when compared to others in the cosmos. So we decided to make a change and end all wars in pursuit of Peace, and not only peace with ourselves, but with everyone in the universe. BUT we can Not forget our past or we would be doomed to repeat it, you see we know exactly what would eventually happen, someone always wants more. Whether it's, land, money or power there will always be someone who wants more. So we armed ourselves, every single one of our 17billion strong population. You see, Terrans are soldiers first and Terran citizens second so when we heard news of your Armada coming into our little corner of the universe we prepared a little welcoming party and launched millions of antimatter torpedoes the very second we took your comms because we know all too well that when someone like you wants more they aren't going to stop with a friendly word, we know that all too well. So we gave you more, more death and destruction you could ever imagine, in order to preserve our peace.But we know beings like you will always want more and more... so we will give you more, in the name of Peace.". "Launch the torpedos"
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	From the chornicles of the last days of Etheria, Author unknown: We are not going to win this war. Nobody could win this. We have to end it, to surrender, to run, to do something but we can not win. At first everything was going fine for us. We were winning battles, every battle. Nothing they did could stop us. And in our victories we became cruel and evil. We really left them no choice. What else could they have done? Wait for their extinction? Desperate times lead to desperate measures and we made them so very desperate. The first stories started to be whispered in the third year of the war. I thought it were ghost stories. We were, at most, one year away from completely wiping them from the face of the galaxy. Of course they would try to spread propaganda to make us slow down. That was, until I saw it myself. It wasn't all of them. Maybe 1 in 5000. Maybe less, maybe more. But those few, they had done something to them. They wouldn't die anymore. I shot him. I know I shot him. Square in the center of the chest. And he fell. I saw the blood on the ground but then he got back up. He just got back up and kept coming. And I shot him again. And he got back up. In the end, he got hit by an explosion. With enough damage they don't come back. But he killed dozens of ours before. I am sure they feel the pain. I heard them scream as they are hit and when we managed to capture one and experiment on him he even cried. They feel the pain but they don't slow down and they do not stop...and they learn. What type of species does that to themselves? What type of species turns themselves into monsters? And what type of people will keep running head on into death over and over again? We call them "the numbers" now. Each one of them has a number written on their shoulder, the number of deaths they faced. Last week I saw one attacking a fortified position. 50 of our people inside, one of him. His number was 378. He learned from 378 mistakes. He had the experience of 378 deaths and probably taken 20 times that number of lives. Even if we had a reliable way to kill them, we couldn't stop them. This one didn't even get shot once in that assault. He just went through our defenders like they were sheep being slaughtered. But that's not even the worst thing. 1 in 5000, we could deal with. it's not that many. Heavy caliber shots to the head or explosions work. Maybe we would have to sacrifice some of our men but we could do it. But the humans rallied behind the numbers. With hope came the will to fight and with that every man and woman became a warrior, all with the same determination as the numbers. Those who can't die lead those who aren't afraid to. Those who can't fight anymore work to make weapons for those who can. Their entire species has turned themselves into a war machine. They fight, they train, they build. They do not stop. That first time I saw a number is now 7 years ago. The tide of the war has shifted long ago. I can't even remember the last time I heard about a victory on our side. That battle 6 months ago where they retreated after having killed 5 times as many of us as we killed of them? Should we call that a victory? We pulled all we had together for that fight and they retreated, regrouped, hit our unguarded flanks and broke our line the next day. Nobody who "won" that battle ever left the site of it. They encircled them and killed them all. Our leadership still hopes they can win. They hope some new technology or new allies will turn the tide of battle. It wont. Nothing can stop people like that. We have made a terrible mistake. We thought they wanted peace because they were afraid of fighting. That wasn't true. They wanted peace because they were afraid of what fighting again would turn them into. They knew that, deep down, they were warriors and monsters. They were afraid to ever let that side of them out again. I can only pray that they will forgive us this mistake. That they will want to be those good peaceful people again. Because we can not stop them. Only they can stop themselves. And if they do not want to, I am certain that the Etherian Empire will only live on in history books. If you ever read those words and find the humans to be a peaceful people who strive for diplomacy and friendship with all species, understand that this is their decision, not their nature. And if you make them abandon that choice, you will face a storm that you can't imagine. I can hear the sirens now. I need to get back to my post. They have already taken the access road and the second post yesterday. We have set up defensive positions but I don't think they will hold. But I will go out, I will man my station. I will fight like they do, without fear. I can hear the sirens. Our positions won't hold.	The Galactic Monarch knew very little beyond word of mouth of the Terran Forces or their population, but what they did know was that Terrans Used "False-stars" to hide their homeworld and it's surrounding system from other intergalactic nations. Not only do they Hide but they also send messages to potential enemies claiming to "come in peace" a ridiculous claim. These peaceful messages did not only make them look weak but to hear that they have never raged war against any other species besides themselves was laughable. So when the Galactic Monarch heard there was gold within their Terran system and that the Terrans homeworlds core was surrounded by gold as well they thought it would be an easily earned victory against these peaceful terrans. The orders were simple find the Terran homeworld decimate what little troops they have and begin the mining of their pathetic planets resources but as the battle comes just outside the Terran system they soon realized how wrong they would be. Captain Al'tek: "Your Majesty, the entire Armada has been deployed and are now in position to enter Terran space. The Terran Admiral is hailing in hopes of Peace" King of the Galactic Monarch: "Peace they say? What peace can space debris offer in the wake of a black hole. We offer no peace here, the Terrans will not be able to turn me away with peace. Ignore all hails and commence with the attack" //The Armada continues to encroach into Terran space// CA: "Your Greatness, they are attempting an Emergency hail" 'Final warning!" "Stop now or risk Total Annihilation." Kogm: "End all communication and engage them now! CA: "As you command your Greatness! All Battle cruisers prepare to enter Terran space in 5..4..3.. " click CA: "Your Majesty! We no longer have communication or visual confirmation of the Terrans or our forces. It appears we've taken massive casualties!" Koqm: "Send another Wave!" CA: "Your Greatness! Forgive me, but I don't think you understand." The entire Armada of over 5 million ships and over a trillion Galactic troops.. are gone.. every last one of them" I believe we are the only surviving ship." Kogm: "What!? How is that possible we've only just entered their system!? CA: "I.. I.. I don't know sir" What!? It looks like the Terrans are overriding our ships Comms." Kogm: "I don't understand, how this is possible!? How can these peace makers with no prior experience destroy our entire Armada!? I wan.. Chhchh* click "Attention* John Blake: Invaders this is Admiral John Blake of the Terran Ministry of Peace, I'm sorry to interrupt but we've had control over your comms the moment you decided to ignore our hails. I understand you are wondering how we've come to win this " battle "today when you call us peace makers. I must say, you really should have done your homework on our planet's History if you planned to defeat us. In fact, until very recently humanity has only ever known to be at war with ourselves.We've fought wars because of races, classes, rights, and intellectualism. No matter what we did or how much we thought we had progressed it seemed there was a war around every corner.. We developed weapons that would cause an insurmountable amount of pain and suffering to our world and peace never seemed to be in reach. That is until we had an encounter with beings of another world. We realized our differences, in the grand scheme of things, we're pointless and meaningless when compared to others in the cosmos. So we decided to make a change and end all wars in pursuit of Peace, and not only peace with ourselves, but with everyone in the universe. BUT we can Not forget our past or we would be doomed to repeat it, you see we know exactly what would eventually happen, someone always wants more. Whether it's, land, money or power there will always be someone who wants more. So we armed ourselves, every single one of our 17billion strong population. You see, Terrans are soldiers first and Terran citizens second so when we heard news of your Armada coming into our little corner of the universe we prepared a little welcoming party and launched millions of antimatter torpedoes the very second we took your comms because we know all too well that when someone like you wants more they aren't going to stop with a friendly word, we know that all too well. So we gave you more, more death and destruction you could ever imagine, in order to preserve our peace.But we know beings like you will always want more and more... so we will give you more, in the name of Peace.". "Launch the torpedos"
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We should have realized, should have listen, when Ensign Blaagk , played that recording he found from Earth's History. "It is our Love of Nation , our way of life , of those we serve side by side with. We Defend we Avenge, we sacrifice, we bleed, and we are willing to Die for this unique creation. We Have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you kno whats good for you. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down. We seen war, we don't want WAR. But if you Want WAR, there is one thing I can promise you, someone else will raise your sons and daughters." All at high command thought this to be a comedy broadcast of forgotten ages. It was soo funny how tough the Humans were acting on the show. It must not be real. Or so High Command believed. When the first wave of landing ships touchdown on the planet. The troops spilled out onto the open fields, still no humans there to meet them and bow down to our might. But when our troops marched away from the drop ships. That is when All Hell Broke Loose. The drop ships came under direct attack. within 30 minutes the Humans had captured all the drop ships. In 3 hours our own drop ships were heading into orbit and began attacking the mother ship. Painted on the sides of all drop ships "TOTAL WAR" Our ground troops had been ambushed several miles away from each landing site. The Humans had been hiding, in trees, under ground, in buildings, they dressed themselves like bushes, like rocks. Bombs, Bullets, Mortars, Rockets, Missiles slammed into our ground forces from every direction. Our troops had No time to get into formation, to get their kill ranks and squads formed up before the Humans cut them down. And cut our troops apart they did. Near one Landing site, Black clad small men with curved shiny blades dropped out of trees and cut our troops in half. Our comms channels was blocked by a Human saying repeating over and over, "Cry Havoc, and Loose the Dogs of WAR!" We Never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them The Mother ship has crashed into their planet, shield are down, all defenses are down, the crew is fighting compartment to compartment to try and hold the Humans back while they try and fix the interstellar emergency be-can. But the Humans destroyed the array in the first strike, and as soon as they breached the hull the made their way to command deck and executed all the officers there, by cutting their heads off, so the entire crew could see over vid screen. They then seized engineering and crashed the ship on purpose. There are Humans all over the ship. Those that are not fighting and killing the crew are stealing everything they can get their hands on. I am hiding in a escape pod , watching the monitor screens, Lt. Blaagk last living officer of Earth Invasion Fleet.	The Galactic Monarch knew very little beyond word of mouth of the Terran Forces or their population, but what they did know was that Terrans Used "False-stars" to hide their homeworld and it's surrounding system from other intergalactic nations. Not only do they Hide but they also send messages to potential enemies claiming to "come in peace" a ridiculous claim. These peaceful messages did not only make them look weak but to hear that they have never raged war against any other species besides themselves was laughable. So when the Galactic Monarch heard there was gold within their Terran system and that the Terrans homeworlds core was surrounded by gold as well they thought it would be an easily earned victory against these peaceful terrans. The orders were simple find the Terran homeworld decimate what little troops they have and begin the mining of their pathetic planets resources but as the battle comes just outside the Terran system they soon realized how wrong they would be. Captain Al'tek: "Your Majesty, the entire Armada has been deployed and are now in position to enter Terran space. The Terran Admiral is hailing in hopes of Peace" King of the Galactic Monarch: "Peace they say? What peace can space debris offer in the wake of a black hole. We offer no peace here, the Terrans will not be able to turn me away with peace. Ignore all hails and commence with the attack" //The Armada continues to encroach into Terran space// CA: "Your Greatness, they are attempting an Emergency hail" 'Final warning!" "Stop now or risk Total Annihilation." Kogm: "End all communication and engage them now! CA: "As you command your Greatness! All Battle cruisers prepare to enter Terran space in 5..4..3.. " click CA: "Your Majesty! We no longer have communication or visual confirmation of the Terrans or our forces. It appears we've taken massive casualties!" Koqm: "Send another Wave!" CA: "Your Greatness! Forgive me, but I don't think you understand." The entire Armada of over 5 million ships and over a trillion Galactic troops.. are gone.. every last one of them" I believe we are the only surviving ship." Kogm: "What!? How is that possible we've only just entered their system!? CA: "I.. I.. I don't know sir" What!? It looks like the Terrans are overriding our ships Comms." Kogm: "I don't understand, how this is possible!? How can these peace makers with no prior experience destroy our entire Armada!? I wan.. Chhchh* click "Attention* John Blake: Invaders this is Admiral John Blake of the Terran Ministry of Peace, I'm sorry to interrupt but we've had control over your comms the moment you decided to ignore our hails. I understand you are wondering how we've come to win this " battle "today when you call us peace makers. I must say, you really should have done your homework on our planet's History if you planned to defeat us. In fact, until very recently humanity has only ever known to be at war with ourselves.We've fought wars because of races, classes, rights, and intellectualism. No matter what we did or how much we thought we had progressed it seemed there was a war around every corner.. We developed weapons that would cause an insurmountable amount of pain and suffering to our world and peace never seemed to be in reach. That is until we had an encounter with beings of another world. We realized our differences, in the grand scheme of things, we're pointless and meaningless when compared to others in the cosmos. So we decided to make a change and end all wars in pursuit of Peace, and not only peace with ourselves, but with everyone in the universe. BUT we can Not forget our past or we would be doomed to repeat it, you see we know exactly what would eventually happen, someone always wants more. Whether it's, land, money or power there will always be someone who wants more. So we armed ourselves, every single one of our 17billion strong population. You see, Terrans are soldiers first and Terran citizens second so when we heard news of your Armada coming into our little corner of the universe we prepared a little welcoming party and launched millions of antimatter torpedoes the very second we took your comms because we know all too well that when someone like you wants more they aren't going to stop with a friendly word, we know that all too well. So we gave you more, more death and destruction you could ever imagine, in order to preserve our peace.But we know beings like you will always want more and more... so we will give you more, in the name of Peace.". "Launch the torpedos"
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The expansion into the Sol system was supposed to be the latest iteration in a pattern I had repeated dozens of times across my career. for civilisations falling just below type I, we would initiate first contact, and demand vassalisation. seventy five percent of all civilisations we encountered stopped at this step, in face of our overwhelming technological superiority it was the logical choice. The remaining twenty five mounted a quick but often bloodless defence, followed by an honorable surrender and assecsion to the empire. The humans of Earth returned our ambassador flayed and mutilated. The humans, who up until our arrival had been at each other's throats owing to petty tribalism and coveting each other's natural resources united virtually overnight against us. Nearly every object they produced was hastily retooled into a weapon of war. When we expended their supply of military atmospheric craft, they turned to crashing civillian transports laden with chemical explosives into our installations. The closer we came to defeating them, the more brutal they became. They hurled chemicals of crude noxious gasses at our soldiers, scorching their repsiratory organs. Platoons of soldiers that surrendered en-masse turned out to be infected with a genetically engineered plague tailored for our biology. Children approached our armored columns, seemingly out of curiosity, which we had seen before. Except these children had explosive vests hidden under their coats, remote triggered by a vengeful parent hiding in rubble nearby. We had been begrudgingly compared to "Romans" by more cooperative humans, refering to an ancient power that while imperialist, maintained a strong sense of professionalism and discipline. Yet in the face of such a brutal enemy, the discipline our combat units, trained for dozens of human years and battlehardened from dozens more of interplanetary campaigns began to break down. Twitchy commanders, suffering from a mental illness we had never seen, yet humans easily diagnosed as "post traumatic stress syndrome" soon gunned down approaching humans on sight, and prisoners were seldom taken. All this only had the effect of intensifying humanity's burning hatred for our empire. What should have taken less than half of their years instead took a decade, and four armies worth of reinforcements. Finally, we had reduced their regular militaries to haggard fanatics hiding in subterranean bunkers across the planet. Yet just before we breached the final bunker containing their leadership, and remaining military infrastructure, the leadership activated a network of missiles containing fusion warheads, hidden in previously unencountered submersible vehicles scattered across their oceans. If we couldn't have earth, nobody could. These missiles were not powerful enough to even make orbit around their planet, much less strike our staging bases on their moon. This told us that the humans had built such a destructive weapons system not for use on us, but on each other. The results of the campaign had a traumatic effect not only on our soldiers, but the entire empire. The value of earth was it's breathable atmosphere, a perfect target for colonisation. Yet in the push of a button, humans made a decade of war, the deaths of hundreds of millions of our soldiers, and quintillions of credits meaningless. We evacuated and quarantined Earth, and the entire system was seen as effectively haunted. I never saw another human again after their species' self immolation. Yet I remain haunted by one thought: If even a dozen breeding pairs of humans were to survive and persist, then our civilisation is in mortal danger. Their children would grow up in caves with respirator masks permanantly affixed to their heads, hearing tales of burning hatred, consecrating themselves as avatars of vengence before they could read. Even if it took a thousand years, they would crawl groaning and screaming out of the ashes until they could stand, and they would not sit until vengence for our crimes against their ancestors had been extracted ten times over.	The Galactic Monarch knew very little beyond word of mouth of the Terran Forces or their population, but what they did know was that Terrans Used "False-stars" to hide their homeworld and it's surrounding system from other intergalactic nations. Not only do they Hide but they also send messages to potential enemies claiming to "come in peace" a ridiculous claim. These peaceful messages did not only make them look weak but to hear that they have never raged war against any other species besides themselves was laughable. So when the Galactic Monarch heard there was gold within their Terran system and that the Terrans homeworlds core was surrounded by gold as well they thought it would be an easily earned victory against these peaceful terrans. The orders were simple find the Terran homeworld decimate what little troops they have and begin the mining of their pathetic planets resources but as the battle comes just outside the Terran system they soon realized how wrong they would be. Captain Al'tek: "Your Majesty, the entire Armada has been deployed and are now in position to enter Terran space. The Terran Admiral is hailing in hopes of Peace" King of the Galactic Monarch: "Peace they say? What peace can space debris offer in the wake of a black hole. We offer no peace here, the Terrans will not be able to turn me away with peace. Ignore all hails and commence with the attack" //The Armada continues to encroach into Terran space// CA: "Your Greatness, they are attempting an Emergency hail" 'Final warning!" "Stop now or risk Total Annihilation." Kogm: "End all communication and engage them now! CA: "As you command your Greatness! All Battle cruisers prepare to enter Terran space in 5..4..3.. " click CA: "Your Majesty! We no longer have communication or visual confirmation of the Terrans or our forces. It appears we've taken massive casualties!" Koqm: "Send another Wave!" CA: "Your Greatness! Forgive me, but I don't think you understand." The entire Armada of over 5 million ships and over a trillion Galactic troops.. are gone.. every last one of them" I believe we are the only surviving ship." Kogm: "What!? How is that possible we've only just entered their system!? CA: "I.. I.. I don't know sir" What!? It looks like the Terrans are overriding our ships Comms." Kogm: "I don't understand, how this is possible!? How can these peace makers with no prior experience destroy our entire Armada!? I wan.. Chhchh* click "Attention* John Blake: Invaders this is Admiral John Blake of the Terran Ministry of Peace, I'm sorry to interrupt but we've had control over your comms the moment you decided to ignore our hails. I understand you are wondering how we've come to win this " battle "today when you call us peace makers. I must say, you really should have done your homework on our planet's History if you planned to defeat us. In fact, until very recently humanity has only ever known to be at war with ourselves.We've fought wars because of races, classes, rights, and intellectualism. No matter what we did or how much we thought we had progressed it seemed there was a war around every corner.. We developed weapons that would cause an insurmountable amount of pain and suffering to our world and peace never seemed to be in reach. That is until we had an encounter with beings of another world. We realized our differences, in the grand scheme of things, we're pointless and meaningless when compared to others in the cosmos. So we decided to make a change and end all wars in pursuit of Peace, and not only peace with ourselves, but with everyone in the universe. BUT we can Not forget our past or we would be doomed to repeat it, you see we know exactly what would eventually happen, someone always wants more. Whether it's, land, money or power there will always be someone who wants more. So we armed ourselves, every single one of our 17billion strong population. You see, Terrans are soldiers first and Terran citizens second so when we heard news of your Armada coming into our little corner of the universe we prepared a little welcoming party and launched millions of antimatter torpedoes the very second we took your comms because we know all too well that when someone like you wants more they aren't going to stop with a friendly word, we know that all too well. So we gave you more, more death and destruction you could ever imagine, in order to preserve our peace.But we know beings like you will always want more and more... so we will give you more, in the name of Peace.". "Launch the torpedos"
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	Sergeant Deshaun Raymond Jones looked up to see them, standing there in utter terror at a sight they couldn’t have ever imagined. At least, he guesses it was terror. If they even felt terror. He’d always said he’d wanted to die in Dallas. It was his home, after all. His mind drifted through the memories he’d collected along the way, smiling softly as he did. He first recalled his mother’s soft voice, singing “Amazing Grace” to him when the storms had kept him awake, shivering in his racecar bed. He then thought back on the first touchdown pass he’d ever caught, beaming with pride as he looked to see if that girl was watching. “Oh man, her…” he said to himself absent-mindedly. He remembered her better than anything else. He remembered how he nervously changed clothes before their first high-school date. He remembered how she held him close and wiped away his tears when he got injured and lost his athletic scholarship to the University of Texas. He remembered how he held her and wiped her tears when he told her that he was going to the army. She made him promise he’d come back home safe. He promised her a lot of things, and he’d kept those promises. Well, all expect one. After a near lethal alcohol poisoning in the dark and depressing time after he lost his scholarship, promised her he’d never drink again. He’d been stone cold sober since. He promised her he’d find work get his life back together when he’d recovered. He did. After he found work, he’d promised her he’d come back home to her after his four years with the army were up. He fought like hell let loose in Brazil during the second South American War back in 2035. He got a medal for his valor, but the only thing on his mind when he was surrounded in that trench was her. When he surprised her on that beach in Destin and dropped to a knee, he promised her he’d never leave her again. He’d kept that promise, and reaffirmed it on the altar. That was until they showed up. He remembered sitting there on that November morning, watching the news as they asked for humanity’s surrender and subsequent assimilation to their empire. He remembered curling up on the floor, sobbing and shaking as they fired their orbital cannons into San Francisco as a show of might. Truth be told, he would have still stayed home with her if she’d asked him to, but she knew. She knew that this wasn’t about getting free college and a sense of brotherhood. This wasn’t about fighting for the interests of your country. This was survival. The survival of their home, the survival of their daughter, the survival of their species. So she let him go. He tried to promise her that he’d come home this time, but she stopped him. All she told him to do was call whenever he could. He remembered looking back over his shoulder at her, their baby in her arms, as he got on that bus belonging to the newly formed International Coalition of Humanity. He remembered. He realized, grimly, that it’d be the last thing he’d do. These invaders thought that humanity would simply kneel to their new gods. They didn’t. They thought that humanity would die making their last stand in Moscow. They didn’t. They thought that humanity would lose the will to fight as the years dragged on. They didn’t. They thought that they’d hold back the human counter-assault in Madrid. They didn’t. They thought a lot of things, but unlike Sergeant Jones, they couldn’t make good on it. But humanity, and Jones by extension, made their enemy one last promise. They promised them that they would die here. And here they were. These aliens before him were watching their people’s last capital ship, the one they were all about to evacuate and escape on, fall from the sky and into the heart of Dallas. They’d captured him a week back, and they were probably going to try and ransom him in a bid for more time, but there’d be no mercy now. As they watched the reactor go critical and meltdown, Deshaun couldn’t help but smile through the tears. In their collective final moments, words came to Deshaun Jones. Every moment of his life, every moment of love and loss, every valley and mountain, every lost comrade and battle won, everything had led to this, and he couldn’t help himself. As the catastrophic blast engulfed him, he reminded them of their fatal mistake. “Don’t mess with Texas.”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	It was strange. A civilisation which lacked war. Which sought out peace. Which endeavoured to save sentient life, to ensure conflicts were focused solely on the soldiers, the warrior class. The humans behaved in this manner. They treated war as a elaborate facade, to be regulated and controlled by pacts and laws and rules. Bizarre, but we had made common cause with stranger species. It was only when we encountered outpost 371 that we understood the intent of these rules. Outpost 371, a place that still causes the shaking of mandibles and the quivering of antennae. On outpost 371, we encountered the confederacy. Humans, biologically identical to the ones we had met before. Some lost colony, sent out before humanity had met us. Our scientists couldn’t understand how similar these creatures were. Because These humans lacked rules. Lacked empathy. In their first foray, they butchered an entire colony, burning nests without hesitation, slaughtering warriors and workers in equal measure. There were no calls for diplomacy from these humans. No asks for peace. Only barbarity. We counter attacked, only to find scenes out of our nightmares. Eggs cracked open for some horrendous ritual feeding called “breakfast”. Irreplaceable artwork crushed under leather clothes human boots. It was then that we learned the bizarre rules of the humans were not there to control us. No, they were intended to protect us, to prevent the darker elements of humanity from being used on intelligent species.	We knew humans were weak. There wasn’t any possible doubt, as their military fleet was almost inexistant, and had for sole purpose to protect their ships against pirates. They only focused on diplomacy, and seemed to see any threat toward their world as a joke, saying that only a mad leader would declare war against another space empire. With all those signs, it wasn’t much a surprise when the Nexelion’s empire declared war on humanity. What was surprising however, was human’s plea to end this conflict immediately, else they would use the power of mutually assured destruction. None of us understood what they meant back then, and assumed it as an empty threat. War against humanity began as easily as the Nexilions had imagined, but as their campagne progressed, report of humanity abandoning their world to flee on untraceable ships began to multiply. Then, the first human ship crashed into a Nexilion’s planet, soon followed by dozens of identical ships. Those empty husk, only designed to transcend the speed of light were humanity backing of their claim, as a simple strike erased planets and their armada from existence, and for the first time, all empires felt fear facing an unblockable strike that would instantly erase a civilization. The Nexilion empire was reduced in a day to a couple of isolated planets, incapable of subsisting on their own. This, young ones, is the history of our lost empire, and the reason diplomacy became so important trough the galaxies, as no one want to share the fate of our people, the Nexilions. As for the humans, they are still out there, on their world ships, an invisible threat that almost devastated galaxies trough their of power
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	We knew humans were weak. There wasn’t any possible doubt, as their military fleet was almost inexistant, and had for sole purpose to protect their ships against pirates. They only focused on diplomacy, and seemed to see any threat toward their world as a joke, saying that only a mad leader would declare war against another space empire. With all those signs, it wasn’t much a surprise when the Nexelion’s empire declared war on humanity. What was surprising however, was human’s plea to end this conflict immediately, else they would use the power of mutually assured destruction. None of us understood what they meant back then, and assumed it as an empty threat. War against humanity began as easily as the Nexilions had imagined, but as their campagne progressed, report of humanity abandoning their world to flee on untraceable ships began to multiply. Then, the first human ship crashed into a Nexilion’s planet, soon followed by dozens of identical ships. Those empty husk, only designed to transcend the speed of light were humanity backing of their claim, as a simple strike erased planets and their armada from existence, and for the first time, all empires felt fear facing an unblockable strike that would instantly erase a civilization. The Nexilion empire was reduced in a day to a couple of isolated planets, incapable of subsisting on their own. This, young ones, is the history of our lost empire, and the reason diplomacy became so important trough the galaxies, as no one want to share the fate of our people, the Nexilions. As for the humans, they are still out there, on their world ships, an invisible threat that almost devastated galaxies trough their of power
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We should have realized, should have listen, when Ensign Blaagk , played that recording he found from Earth's History. "It is our Love of Nation , our way of life , of those we serve side by side with. We Defend we Avenge, we sacrifice, we bleed, and we are willing to Die for this unique creation. We Have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you kno whats good for you. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down. We seen war, we don't want WAR. But if you Want WAR, there is one thing I can promise you, someone else will raise your sons and daughters." All at high command thought this to be a comedy broadcast of forgotten ages. It was soo funny how tough the Humans were acting on the show. It must not be real. Or so High Command believed. When the first wave of landing ships touchdown on the planet. The troops spilled out onto the open fields, still no humans there to meet them and bow down to our might. But when our troops marched away from the drop ships. That is when All Hell Broke Loose. The drop ships came under direct attack. within 30 minutes the Humans had captured all the drop ships. In 3 hours our own drop ships were heading into orbit and began attacking the mother ship. Painted on the sides of all drop ships "TOTAL WAR" Our ground troops had been ambushed several miles away from each landing site. The Humans had been hiding, in trees, under ground, in buildings, they dressed themselves like bushes, like rocks. Bombs, Bullets, Mortars, Rockets, Missiles slammed into our ground forces from every direction. Our troops had No time to get into formation, to get their kill ranks and squads formed up before the Humans cut them down. And cut our troops apart they did. Near one Landing site, Black clad small men with curved shiny blades dropped out of trees and cut our troops in half. Our comms channels was blocked by a Human saying repeating over and over, "Cry Havoc, and Loose the Dogs of WAR!" We Never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them The Mother ship has crashed into their planet, shield are down, all defenses are down, the crew is fighting compartment to compartment to try and hold the Humans back while they try and fix the interstellar emergency be-can. But the Humans destroyed the array in the first strike, and as soon as they breached the hull the made their way to command deck and executed all the officers there, by cutting their heads off, so the entire crew could see over vid screen. They then seized engineering and crashed the ship on purpose. There are Humans all over the ship. Those that are not fighting and killing the crew are stealing everything they can get their hands on. I am hiding in a escape pod , watching the monitor screens, Lt. Blaagk last living officer of Earth Invasion Fleet.	We knew humans were weak. There wasn’t any possible doubt, as their military fleet was almost inexistant, and had for sole purpose to protect their ships against pirates. They only focused on diplomacy, and seemed to see any threat toward their world as a joke, saying that only a mad leader would declare war against another space empire. With all those signs, it wasn’t much a surprise when the Nexelion’s empire declared war on humanity. What was surprising however, was human’s plea to end this conflict immediately, else they would use the power of mutually assured destruction. None of us understood what they meant back then, and assumed it as an empty threat. War against humanity began as easily as the Nexilions had imagined, but as their campagne progressed, report of humanity abandoning their world to flee on untraceable ships began to multiply. Then, the first human ship crashed into a Nexilion’s planet, soon followed by dozens of identical ships. Those empty husk, only designed to transcend the speed of light were humanity backing of their claim, as a simple strike erased planets and their armada from existence, and for the first time, all empires felt fear facing an unblockable strike that would instantly erase a civilization. The Nexilion empire was reduced in a day to a couple of isolated planets, incapable of subsisting on their own. This, young ones, is the history of our lost empire, and the reason diplomacy became so important trough the galaxies, as no one want to share the fate of our people, the Nexilions. As for the humans, they are still out there, on their world ships, an invisible threat that almost devastated galaxies trough their of power
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The expansion into the Sol system was supposed to be the latest iteration in a pattern I had repeated dozens of times across my career. for civilisations falling just below type I, we would initiate first contact, and demand vassalisation. seventy five percent of all civilisations we encountered stopped at this step, in face of our overwhelming technological superiority it was the logical choice. The remaining twenty five mounted a quick but often bloodless defence, followed by an honorable surrender and assecsion to the empire. The humans of Earth returned our ambassador flayed and mutilated. The humans, who up until our arrival had been at each other's throats owing to petty tribalism and coveting each other's natural resources united virtually overnight against us. Nearly every object they produced was hastily retooled into a weapon of war. When we expended their supply of military atmospheric craft, they turned to crashing civillian transports laden with chemical explosives into our installations. The closer we came to defeating them, the more brutal they became. They hurled chemicals of crude noxious gasses at our soldiers, scorching their repsiratory organs. Platoons of soldiers that surrendered en-masse turned out to be infected with a genetically engineered plague tailored for our biology. Children approached our armored columns, seemingly out of curiosity, which we had seen before. Except these children had explosive vests hidden under their coats, remote triggered by a vengeful parent hiding in rubble nearby. We had been begrudgingly compared to "Romans" by more cooperative humans, refering to an ancient power that while imperialist, maintained a strong sense of professionalism and discipline. Yet in the face of such a brutal enemy, the discipline our combat units, trained for dozens of human years and battlehardened from dozens more of interplanetary campaigns began to break down. Twitchy commanders, suffering from a mental illness we had never seen, yet humans easily diagnosed as "post traumatic stress syndrome" soon gunned down approaching humans on sight, and prisoners were seldom taken. All this only had the effect of intensifying humanity's burning hatred for our empire. What should have taken less than half of their years instead took a decade, and four armies worth of reinforcements. Finally, we had reduced their regular militaries to haggard fanatics hiding in subterranean bunkers across the planet. Yet just before we breached the final bunker containing their leadership, and remaining military infrastructure, the leadership activated a network of missiles containing fusion warheads, hidden in previously unencountered submersible vehicles scattered across their oceans. If we couldn't have earth, nobody could. These missiles were not powerful enough to even make orbit around their planet, much less strike our staging bases on their moon. This told us that the humans had built such a destructive weapons system not for use on us, but on each other. The results of the campaign had a traumatic effect not only on our soldiers, but the entire empire. The value of earth was it's breathable atmosphere, a perfect target for colonisation. Yet in the push of a button, humans made a decade of war, the deaths of hundreds of millions of our soldiers, and quintillions of credits meaningless. We evacuated and quarantined Earth, and the entire system was seen as effectively haunted. I never saw another human again after their species' self immolation. Yet I remain haunted by one thought: If even a dozen breeding pairs of humans were to survive and persist, then our civilisation is in mortal danger. Their children would grow up in caves with respirator masks permanantly affixed to their heads, hearing tales of burning hatred, consecrating themselves as avatars of vengence before they could read. Even if it took a thousand years, they would crawl groaning and screaming out of the ashes until they could stand, and they would not sit until vengence for our crimes against their ancestors had been extracted ten times over.	We knew humans were weak. There wasn’t any possible doubt, as their military fleet was almost inexistant, and had for sole purpose to protect their ships against pirates. They only focused on diplomacy, and seemed to see any threat toward their world as a joke, saying that only a mad leader would declare war against another space empire. With all those signs, it wasn’t much a surprise when the Nexelion’s empire declared war on humanity. What was surprising however, was human’s plea to end this conflict immediately, else they would use the power of mutually assured destruction. None of us understood what they meant back then, and assumed it as an empty threat. War against humanity began as easily as the Nexilions had imagined, but as their campagne progressed, report of humanity abandoning their world to flee on untraceable ships began to multiply. Then, the first human ship crashed into a Nexilion’s planet, soon followed by dozens of identical ships. Those empty husk, only designed to transcend the speed of light were humanity backing of their claim, as a simple strike erased planets and their armada from existence, and for the first time, all empires felt fear facing an unblockable strike that would instantly erase a civilization. The Nexilion empire was reduced in a day to a couple of isolated planets, incapable of subsisting on their own. This, young ones, is the history of our lost empire, and the reason diplomacy became so important trough the galaxies, as no one want to share the fate of our people, the Nexilions. As for the humans, they are still out there, on their world ships, an invisible threat that almost devastated galaxies trough their of power
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	It was strange. A civilisation which lacked war. Which sought out peace. Which endeavoured to save sentient life, to ensure conflicts were focused solely on the soldiers, the warrior class. The humans behaved in this manner. They treated war as a elaborate facade, to be regulated and controlled by pacts and laws and rules. Bizarre, but we had made common cause with stranger species. It was only when we encountered outpost 371 that we understood the intent of these rules. Outpost 371, a place that still causes the shaking of mandibles and the quivering of antennae. On outpost 371, we encountered the confederacy. Humans, biologically identical to the ones we had met before. Some lost colony, sent out before humanity had met us. Our scientists couldn’t understand how similar these creatures were. Because These humans lacked rules. Lacked empathy. In their first foray, they butchered an entire colony, burning nests without hesitation, slaughtering warriors and workers in equal measure. There were no calls for diplomacy from these humans. No asks for peace. Only barbarity. We counter attacked, only to find scenes out of our nightmares. Eggs cracked open for some horrendous ritual feeding called “breakfast”. Irreplaceable artwork crushed under leather clothes human boots. It was then that we learned the bizarre rules of the humans were not there to control us. No, they were intended to protect us, to prevent the darker elements of humanity from being used on intelligent species.	My kind has always seen violence as a pragmatic tool to get our ends. We don't indulge in violence out of any primitive instinct; we have long since killed those. To us, whom the humans call the Amphitilians - to note that we can exist in more forms of matter than they can, "war" has a been way to resolve in unresolvable. We have known of the humans for almost 100 Terran years, a period that we understand is less than half a generation to the humans of this time. The humans we have seen across their tiny colonies and mining belts were not warriors - there seemed to be no warriors across the sectors of space they had infested. We warned them for long to not come inside the boundary that our kind has controlled for as long as we can remember, but yet little seemingly unaffiliated groups of humans kept infesting every corner they could. And before long they created a network amongst themselves, infesting tactfully and with coordination across half a sector. At first, they were little more than an eyesore but within a decade they became an inconvenience in every outer area controlled. And so we did what we felt we must, we attacked them interplanetary ballistics and sent clean-up crews to their illegal mining colonies. At first, we crushed them without much resistance. The humans were poorly armed and had no training. But soon, we started encountering violent, out-of-control rag-tag groups and mobs. Suicide bombers, Stealth fighters, child soldiers - these are merely the surface of the horrific lengths this species was capable of. But that was just the beginning. What we didn't understand was that our infestation problem was an unauthorized migration of errant human groups and colony ships. But when their federations learned of what we were doing to exterminate humans across our sector - they did not take it kindly. "Total War" protocol was engaged by their federations against the Amphitilians across our entire sector. Their warriors were armed to the teeth, hidden inside mechanical constructions and energy weapons that were out of our league. And not to mention they outnumbered us ten to one, their warriors to our entire population. Their warriors were creatures of horror, that indulged in pain to satisfy their blood rage. Each of them proudly boasted a kill count, some even keep tokens of our kind they killed. Humans were no weak infestation. They are a threat to this entire galaxy. No, they are a threat to every type of civilized life out there. They do not negotiate, they do not honor their word, and they are not creatures of sanity. I send this message, not in the hope that we may somehow save our species. It is too late for us. There are less than a few million of us left now, limited to just one planet and its two moons. We will not live to tell our tale for another decade. So for anyone that might receive this message, be warned of the humans. Do not underestimate them, do not let them find you. And if you find yourself invaded by this hostile species, just run. If you run, you may avoid our fate. It is better to live somewhere than die protecting mere rock and space. Let our fate be a warning and a beacon. Do not mess with the humans. Hide from them. Run from them. Lie to them. But do not engage them in violence.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	My kind has always seen violence as a pragmatic tool to get our ends. We don't indulge in violence out of any primitive instinct; we have long since killed those. To us, whom the humans call the Amphitilians - to note that we can exist in more forms of matter than they can, "war" has a been way to resolve in unresolvable. We have known of the humans for almost 100 Terran years, a period that we understand is less than half a generation to the humans of this time. The humans we have seen across their tiny colonies and mining belts were not warriors - there seemed to be no warriors across the sectors of space they had infested. We warned them for long to not come inside the boundary that our kind has controlled for as long as we can remember, but yet little seemingly unaffiliated groups of humans kept infesting every corner they could. And before long they created a network amongst themselves, infesting tactfully and with coordination across half a sector. At first, they were little more than an eyesore but within a decade they became an inconvenience in every outer area controlled. And so we did what we felt we must, we attacked them interplanetary ballistics and sent clean-up crews to their illegal mining colonies. At first, we crushed them without much resistance. The humans were poorly armed and had no training. But soon, we started encountering violent, out-of-control rag-tag groups and mobs. Suicide bombers, Stealth fighters, child soldiers - these are merely the surface of the horrific lengths this species was capable of. But that was just the beginning. What we didn't understand was that our infestation problem was an unauthorized migration of errant human groups and colony ships. But when their federations learned of what we were doing to exterminate humans across our sector - they did not take it kindly. "Total War" protocol was engaged by their federations against the Amphitilians across our entire sector. Their warriors were armed to the teeth, hidden inside mechanical constructions and energy weapons that were out of our league. And not to mention they outnumbered us ten to one, their warriors to our entire population. Their warriors were creatures of horror, that indulged in pain to satisfy their blood rage. Each of them proudly boasted a kill count, some even keep tokens of our kind they killed. Humans were no weak infestation. They are a threat to this entire galaxy. No, they are a threat to every type of civilized life out there. They do not negotiate, they do not honor their word, and they are not creatures of sanity. I send this message, not in the hope that we may somehow save our species. It is too late for us. There are less than a few million of us left now, limited to just one planet and its two moons. We will not live to tell our tale for another decade. So for anyone that might receive this message, be warned of the humans. Do not underestimate them, do not let them find you. And if you find yourself invaded by this hostile species, just run. If you run, you may avoid our fate. It is better to live somewhere than die protecting mere rock and space. Let our fate be a warning and a beacon. Do not mess with the humans. Hide from them. Run from them. Lie to them. But do not engage them in violence.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	We ravaged our planet with war. Nuclear weapons once turned our planet into a desert hellscape and we killed each other for shiny rocks and imaginary lines. When it was all said and done, and it was time to rebuild, we vowed to learn from the mistakes of our ancestors. We came together, no ideology worth another’s life. We grew our numbers, scrapped old technology and invented better ones. But old habits die hard. We knew we were peaceful, but when we found alien species amongst the stars, we knew not everyone would have learned the lessons we did a millennia before. We grew our Arsenal, and vowed never to use it unless absolutely necessary. No ideology was worth another’s life. Then, the Akshara arrived. A race of hulking creatures that took what they wanted when they wanted. We did not mind and told them they could have any planet not colonized by humans. We gave an inch, they took their mile. They took the planets closest to every human colony we laid down. Until the day came, until war came. They fired the first shot, or first thousand shots. They attacked every planet at once, a carefully planned engagement. That day, we decided we would be peaceful, and so would the rest of the galaxy. We used a quarter of our stockpiled technology, ships, and weapons, wiping out every ship near us first in 10 days. In 7 days, we bombarded every planet they occupied near ours. Every building, ship yard, house and school. Every trench, mess hall and bunker they had. We had terraforming technology to fix the planets, and we didn’t stop until every single Akshara was dead within 3 light years. In 3 days, we moved to their home worlds and did the same. We recorded everything and sent it in every direction across the galaxy. Today the galaxy would learn, we are peaceful. We are not harmless.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	The invasion was fast. Very fast. In only a few cycles, every single human planet had been subjugated by the so called Galactic Empire. Hundreds of billions of humans were enslaved, families torn apart, monuments destroyed. The emperor was very happy. How had no other civilizations noticed that the humans lacked a proper military? That their economical empire was weak, and open to invasion? With minimal losses, the biggest organization in the galaxy had been taken down. Oh, they tried to talk their way out of it. They tried to reach an agreement, a contract, they tried to bribe them. The emperor had felt insulted when he was presented with those offers. And so he had conquered them. But then, something started happening. Humans did not have any communication among them, spread through thousands of worlds, all under the Empire’s control, they could not possibly organize an effective resistance. And yet, in every single planet, small groups were attacking docking stations, refueling facilities, repair stations. All of the infrastructure was being destroyed by completely independent groups. The humans called it “guerrilla”. If the Galactic Empire sent resources to stop these guerrilla groups in one planet, three other planets would start attacking the weakened forces. And so it was that the empire realized that it was doomed. The harder they tried to force the humans into submission, the harder they fought back. It was almost like they knew they had nothing to loose, like that didn’t care about themselves, their families, or their planets. They only cared about destroying the oppressor. Not one battle was fought. There were no epic stories to be told. No super weapons, no incredible tactics. There was no propaganda, no martyrs, no grand objectives. And yet, the Galactic Empire was absolutely destroyed. The invasion had been fast. But the counter attack was slow, and bloody. In the end, a small group of humans managed to infiltrate the emperor’s ship and shoot him in the head before anyone noticed. They were killed almost instantly by the guards, but it was too late. Humanity reclaimed every single one of its planets, plus all of the planets under the Galactic Empire’s control that didn’t belong to enslaved civilizations. They sold the empire’s ships to rebuild their economy and become and even stronger force than they had ever been. When the dust settled, humanity was stronger than it had ever been, and the Galactic Empire had been absolutely obliterated. So it was that the rest of the galaxy understood the saying, “I fear nothing, but the anger of a gentle man”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We should have realized, should have listen, when Ensign Blaagk , played that recording he found from Earth's History. "It is our Love of Nation , our way of life , of those we serve side by side with. We Defend we Avenge, we sacrifice, we bleed, and we are willing to Die for this unique creation. We Have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you kno whats good for you. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down. We seen war, we don't want WAR. But if you Want WAR, there is one thing I can promise you, someone else will raise your sons and daughters." All at high command thought this to be a comedy broadcast of forgotten ages. It was soo funny how tough the Humans were acting on the show. It must not be real. Or so High Command believed. When the first wave of landing ships touchdown on the planet. The troops spilled out onto the open fields, still no humans there to meet them and bow down to our might. But when our troops marched away from the drop ships. That is when All Hell Broke Loose. The drop ships came under direct attack. within 30 minutes the Humans had captured all the drop ships. In 3 hours our own drop ships were heading into orbit and began attacking the mother ship. Painted on the sides of all drop ships "TOTAL WAR" Our ground troops had been ambushed several miles away from each landing site. The Humans had been hiding, in trees, under ground, in buildings, they dressed themselves like bushes, like rocks. Bombs, Bullets, Mortars, Rockets, Missiles slammed into our ground forces from every direction. Our troops had No time to get into formation, to get their kill ranks and squads formed up before the Humans cut them down. And cut our troops apart they did. Near one Landing site, Black clad small men with curved shiny blades dropped out of trees and cut our troops in half. Our comms channels was blocked by a Human saying repeating over and over, "Cry Havoc, and Loose the Dogs of WAR!" We Never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them The Mother ship has crashed into their planet, shield are down, all defenses are down, the crew is fighting compartment to compartment to try and hold the Humans back while they try and fix the interstellar emergency be-can. But the Humans destroyed the array in the first strike, and as soon as they breached the hull the made their way to command deck and executed all the officers there, by cutting their heads off, so the entire crew could see over vid screen. They then seized engineering and crashed the ship on purpose. There are Humans all over the ship. Those that are not fighting and killing the crew are stealing everything they can get their hands on. I am hiding in a escape pod , watching the monitor screens, Lt. Blaagk last living officer of Earth Invasion Fleet.	The invasion was fast. Very fast. In only a few cycles, every single human planet had been subjugated by the so called Galactic Empire. Hundreds of billions of humans were enslaved, families torn apart, monuments destroyed. The emperor was very happy. How had no other civilizations noticed that the humans lacked a proper military? That their economical empire was weak, and open to invasion? With minimal losses, the biggest organization in the galaxy had been taken down. Oh, they tried to talk their way out of it. They tried to reach an agreement, a contract, they tried to bribe them. The emperor had felt insulted when he was presented with those offers. And so he had conquered them. But then, something started happening. Humans did not have any communication among them, spread through thousands of worlds, all under the Empire’s control, they could not possibly organize an effective resistance. And yet, in every single planet, small groups were attacking docking stations, refueling facilities, repair stations. All of the infrastructure was being destroyed by completely independent groups. The humans called it “guerrilla”. If the Galactic Empire sent resources to stop these guerrilla groups in one planet, three other planets would start attacking the weakened forces. And so it was that the empire realized that it was doomed. The harder they tried to force the humans into submission, the harder they fought back. It was almost like they knew they had nothing to loose, like that didn’t care about themselves, their families, or their planets. They only cared about destroying the oppressor. Not one battle was fought. There were no epic stories to be told. No super weapons, no incredible tactics. There was no propaganda, no martyrs, no grand objectives. And yet, the Galactic Empire was absolutely destroyed. The invasion had been fast. But the counter attack was slow, and bloody. In the end, a small group of humans managed to infiltrate the emperor’s ship and shoot him in the head before anyone noticed. They were killed almost instantly by the guards, but it was too late. Humanity reclaimed every single one of its planets, plus all of the planets under the Galactic Empire’s control that didn’t belong to enslaved civilizations. They sold the empire’s ships to rebuild their economy and become and even stronger force than they had ever been. When the dust settled, humanity was stronger than it had ever been, and the Galactic Empire had been absolutely obliterated. So it was that the rest of the galaxy understood the saying, “I fear nothing, but the anger of a gentle man”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The expansion into the Sol system was supposed to be the latest iteration in a pattern I had repeated dozens of times across my career. for civilisations falling just below type I, we would initiate first contact, and demand vassalisation. seventy five percent of all civilisations we encountered stopped at this step, in face of our overwhelming technological superiority it was the logical choice. The remaining twenty five mounted a quick but often bloodless defence, followed by an honorable surrender and assecsion to the empire. The humans of Earth returned our ambassador flayed and mutilated. The humans, who up until our arrival had been at each other's throats owing to petty tribalism and coveting each other's natural resources united virtually overnight against us. Nearly every object they produced was hastily retooled into a weapon of war. When we expended their supply of military atmospheric craft, they turned to crashing civillian transports laden with chemical explosives into our installations. The closer we came to defeating them, the more brutal they became. They hurled chemicals of crude noxious gasses at our soldiers, scorching their repsiratory organs. Platoons of soldiers that surrendered en-masse turned out to be infected with a genetically engineered plague tailored for our biology. Children approached our armored columns, seemingly out of curiosity, which we had seen before. Except these children had explosive vests hidden under their coats, remote triggered by a vengeful parent hiding in rubble nearby. We had been begrudgingly compared to "Romans" by more cooperative humans, refering to an ancient power that while imperialist, maintained a strong sense of professionalism and discipline. Yet in the face of such a brutal enemy, the discipline our combat units, trained for dozens of human years and battlehardened from dozens more of interplanetary campaigns began to break down. Twitchy commanders, suffering from a mental illness we had never seen, yet humans easily diagnosed as "post traumatic stress syndrome" soon gunned down approaching humans on sight, and prisoners were seldom taken. All this only had the effect of intensifying humanity's burning hatred for our empire. What should have taken less than half of their years instead took a decade, and four armies worth of reinforcements. Finally, we had reduced their regular militaries to haggard fanatics hiding in subterranean bunkers across the planet. Yet just before we breached the final bunker containing their leadership, and remaining military infrastructure, the leadership activated a network of missiles containing fusion warheads, hidden in previously unencountered submersible vehicles scattered across their oceans. If we couldn't have earth, nobody could. These missiles were not powerful enough to even make orbit around their planet, much less strike our staging bases on their moon. This told us that the humans had built such a destructive weapons system not for use on us, but on each other. The results of the campaign had a traumatic effect not only on our soldiers, but the entire empire. The value of earth was it's breathable atmosphere, a perfect target for colonisation. Yet in the push of a button, humans made a decade of war, the deaths of hundreds of millions of our soldiers, and quintillions of credits meaningless. We evacuated and quarantined Earth, and the entire system was seen as effectively haunted. I never saw another human again after their species' self immolation. Yet I remain haunted by one thought: If even a dozen breeding pairs of humans were to survive and persist, then our civilisation is in mortal danger. Their children would grow up in caves with respirator masks permanantly affixed to their heads, hearing tales of burning hatred, consecrating themselves as avatars of vengence before they could read. Even if it took a thousand years, they would crawl groaning and screaming out of the ashes until they could stand, and they would not sit until vengence for our crimes against their ancestors had been extracted ten times over.	The invasion was fast. Very fast. In only a few cycles, every single human planet had been subjugated by the so called Galactic Empire. Hundreds of billions of humans were enslaved, families torn apart, monuments destroyed. The emperor was very happy. How had no other civilizations noticed that the humans lacked a proper military? That their economical empire was weak, and open to invasion? With minimal losses, the biggest organization in the galaxy had been taken down. Oh, they tried to talk their way out of it. They tried to reach an agreement, a contract, they tried to bribe them. The emperor had felt insulted when he was presented with those offers. And so he had conquered them. But then, something started happening. Humans did not have any communication among them, spread through thousands of worlds, all under the Empire’s control, they could not possibly organize an effective resistance. And yet, in every single planet, small groups were attacking docking stations, refueling facilities, repair stations. All of the infrastructure was being destroyed by completely independent groups. The humans called it “guerrilla”. If the Galactic Empire sent resources to stop these guerrilla groups in one planet, three other planets would start attacking the weakened forces. And so it was that the empire realized that it was doomed. The harder they tried to force the humans into submission, the harder they fought back. It was almost like they knew they had nothing to loose, like that didn’t care about themselves, their families, or their planets. They only cared about destroying the oppressor. Not one battle was fought. There were no epic stories to be told. No super weapons, no incredible tactics. There was no propaganda, no martyrs, no grand objectives. And yet, the Galactic Empire was absolutely destroyed. The invasion had been fast. But the counter attack was slow, and bloody. In the end, a small group of humans managed to infiltrate the emperor’s ship and shoot him in the head before anyone noticed. They were killed almost instantly by the guards, but it was too late. Humanity reclaimed every single one of its planets, plus all of the planets under the Galactic Empire’s control that didn’t belong to enslaved civilizations. They sold the empire’s ships to rebuild their economy and become and even stronger force than they had ever been. When the dust settled, humanity was stronger than it had ever been, and the Galactic Empire had been absolutely obliterated. So it was that the rest of the galaxy understood the saying, “I fear nothing, but the anger of a gentle man”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	It was strange. A civilisation which lacked war. Which sought out peace. Which endeavoured to save sentient life, to ensure conflicts were focused solely on the soldiers, the warrior class. The humans behaved in this manner. They treated war as a elaborate facade, to be regulated and controlled by pacts and laws and rules. Bizarre, but we had made common cause with stranger species. It was only when we encountered outpost 371 that we understood the intent of these rules. Outpost 371, a place that still causes the shaking of mandibles and the quivering of antennae. On outpost 371, we encountered the confederacy. Humans, biologically identical to the ones we had met before. Some lost colony, sent out before humanity had met us. Our scientists couldn’t understand how similar these creatures were. Because These humans lacked rules. Lacked empathy. In their first foray, they butchered an entire colony, burning nests without hesitation, slaughtering warriors and workers in equal measure. There were no calls for diplomacy from these humans. No asks for peace. Only barbarity. We counter attacked, only to find scenes out of our nightmares. Eggs cracked open for some horrendous ritual feeding called “breakfast”. Irreplaceable artwork crushed under leather clothes human boots. It was then that we learned the bizarre rules of the humans were not there to control us. No, they were intended to protect us, to prevent the darker elements of humanity from being used on intelligent species.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	"Dragons Teeth" "What?" snarled the ambassador of Grrekxt Empire The weakling human gave him what accounts as a sad smile among those primates "In our mythology there is the story of when a dragon is defeated, its teeth spread across the field slumbering for the future. Once called, each awakens as a new Dragon, ready to rampage once more" "So what? you fluff yourself up with some beast as if you entire species isnt one of cowards. You have been given your ultimatum, you will submit to our empire, or your federation will be ground to dust." A heavy sigh "A Dragon is a mighty beast, indomitable and unbreakable except through the hardest opposition. It is the creature we show on our flag, curled around Earth, our lost home. Have you never once questioned why we have chosen such a display when we so openly embrace pacifism?" "You should take that call" as he said that the ambassadors communicator ringed and he snarled a angry tone towards whoever dared interupt him. Mere seconds later his aggresive stance flattened. "You have assaulted our colonies, our civilians, murdered children and innocents. The Dragons have answered the call." A hundred lightyears away within the Grrekxt borders, thousands of ships emerge from impossible fractures in realspace and without word begin firing. Weapons impossible to describe tear fleets and moons apart with equal ease. This is why humans have no home. Their War does not know anything but the absolute elimination of the other. The Total Annihilation of their opponent. "We have chosen peace not because we fear War. But because our species revels in it." Ambassador Johns said before firing his hidden weapon.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We should have realized, should have listen, when Ensign Blaagk , played that recording he found from Earth's History. "It is our Love of Nation , our way of life , of those we serve side by side with. We Defend we Avenge, we sacrifice, we bleed, and we are willing to Die for this unique creation. We Have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you kno whats good for you. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down. We seen war, we don't want WAR. But if you Want WAR, there is one thing I can promise you, someone else will raise your sons and daughters." All at high command thought this to be a comedy broadcast of forgotten ages. It was soo funny how tough the Humans were acting on the show. It must not be real. Or so High Command believed. When the first wave of landing ships touchdown on the planet. The troops spilled out onto the open fields, still no humans there to meet them and bow down to our might. But when our troops marched away from the drop ships. That is when All Hell Broke Loose. The drop ships came under direct attack. within 30 minutes the Humans had captured all the drop ships. In 3 hours our own drop ships were heading into orbit and began attacking the mother ship. Painted on the sides of all drop ships "TOTAL WAR" Our ground troops had been ambushed several miles away from each landing site. The Humans had been hiding, in trees, under ground, in buildings, they dressed themselves like bushes, like rocks. Bombs, Bullets, Mortars, Rockets, Missiles slammed into our ground forces from every direction. Our troops had No time to get into formation, to get their kill ranks and squads formed up before the Humans cut them down. And cut our troops apart they did. Near one Landing site, Black clad small men with curved shiny blades dropped out of trees and cut our troops in half. Our comms channels was blocked by a Human saying repeating over and over, "Cry Havoc, and Loose the Dogs of WAR!" We Never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them The Mother ship has crashed into their planet, shield are down, all defenses are down, the crew is fighting compartment to compartment to try and hold the Humans back while they try and fix the interstellar emergency be-can. But the Humans destroyed the array in the first strike, and as soon as they breached the hull the made their way to command deck and executed all the officers there, by cutting their heads off, so the entire crew could see over vid screen. They then seized engineering and crashed the ship on purpose. There are Humans all over the ship. Those that are not fighting and killing the crew are stealing everything they can get their hands on. I am hiding in a escape pod , watching the monitor screens, Lt. Blaagk last living officer of Earth Invasion Fleet.	"Dragons Teeth" "What?" snarled the ambassador of Grrekxt Empire The weakling human gave him what accounts as a sad smile among those primates "In our mythology there is the story of when a dragon is defeated, its teeth spread across the field slumbering for the future. Once called, each awakens as a new Dragon, ready to rampage once more" "So what? you fluff yourself up with some beast as if you entire species isnt one of cowards. You have been given your ultimatum, you will submit to our empire, or your federation will be ground to dust." A heavy sigh "A Dragon is a mighty beast, indomitable and unbreakable except through the hardest opposition. It is the creature we show on our flag, curled around Earth, our lost home. Have you never once questioned why we have chosen such a display when we so openly embrace pacifism?" "You should take that call" as he said that the ambassadors communicator ringed and he snarled a angry tone towards whoever dared interupt him. Mere seconds later his aggresive stance flattened. "You have assaulted our colonies, our civilians, murdered children and innocents. The Dragons have answered the call." A hundred lightyears away within the Grrekxt borders, thousands of ships emerge from impossible fractures in realspace and without word begin firing. Weapons impossible to describe tear fleets and moons apart with equal ease. This is why humans have no home. Their War does not know anything but the absolute elimination of the other. The Total Annihilation of their opponent. "We have chosen peace not because we fear War. But because our species revels in it." Ambassador Johns said before firing his hidden weapon.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The expansion into the Sol system was supposed to be the latest iteration in a pattern I had repeated dozens of times across my career. for civilisations falling just below type I, we would initiate first contact, and demand vassalisation. seventy five percent of all civilisations we encountered stopped at this step, in face of our overwhelming technological superiority it was the logical choice. The remaining twenty five mounted a quick but often bloodless defence, followed by an honorable surrender and assecsion to the empire. The humans of Earth returned our ambassador flayed and mutilated. The humans, who up until our arrival had been at each other's throats owing to petty tribalism and coveting each other's natural resources united virtually overnight against us. Nearly every object they produced was hastily retooled into a weapon of war. When we expended their supply of military atmospheric craft, they turned to crashing civillian transports laden with chemical explosives into our installations. The closer we came to defeating them, the more brutal they became. They hurled chemicals of crude noxious gasses at our soldiers, scorching their repsiratory organs. Platoons of soldiers that surrendered en-masse turned out to be infected with a genetically engineered plague tailored for our biology. Children approached our armored columns, seemingly out of curiosity, which we had seen before. Except these children had explosive vests hidden under their coats, remote triggered by a vengeful parent hiding in rubble nearby. We had been begrudgingly compared to "Romans" by more cooperative humans, refering to an ancient power that while imperialist, maintained a strong sense of professionalism and discipline. Yet in the face of such a brutal enemy, the discipline our combat units, trained for dozens of human years and battlehardened from dozens more of interplanetary campaigns began to break down. Twitchy commanders, suffering from a mental illness we had never seen, yet humans easily diagnosed as "post traumatic stress syndrome" soon gunned down approaching humans on sight, and prisoners were seldom taken. All this only had the effect of intensifying humanity's burning hatred for our empire. What should have taken less than half of their years instead took a decade, and four armies worth of reinforcements. Finally, we had reduced their regular militaries to haggard fanatics hiding in subterranean bunkers across the planet. Yet just before we breached the final bunker containing their leadership, and remaining military infrastructure, the leadership activated a network of missiles containing fusion warheads, hidden in previously unencountered submersible vehicles scattered across their oceans. If we couldn't have earth, nobody could. These missiles were not powerful enough to even make orbit around their planet, much less strike our staging bases on their moon. This told us that the humans had built such a destructive weapons system not for use on us, but on each other. The results of the campaign had a traumatic effect not only on our soldiers, but the entire empire. The value of earth was it's breathable atmosphere, a perfect target for colonisation. Yet in the push of a button, humans made a decade of war, the deaths of hundreds of millions of our soldiers, and quintillions of credits meaningless. We evacuated and quarantined Earth, and the entire system was seen as effectively haunted. I never saw another human again after their species' self immolation. Yet I remain haunted by one thought: If even a dozen breeding pairs of humans were to survive and persist, then our civilisation is in mortal danger. Their children would grow up in caves with respirator masks permanantly affixed to their heads, hearing tales of burning hatred, consecrating themselves as avatars of vengence before they could read. Even if it took a thousand years, they would crawl groaning and screaming out of the ashes until they could stand, and they would not sit until vengence for our crimes against their ancestors had been extracted ten times over.	"Dragons Teeth" "What?" snarled the ambassador of Grrekxt Empire The weakling human gave him what accounts as a sad smile among those primates "In our mythology there is the story of when a dragon is defeated, its teeth spread across the field slumbering for the future. Once called, each awakens as a new Dragon, ready to rampage once more" "So what? you fluff yourself up with some beast as if you entire species isnt one of cowards. You have been given your ultimatum, you will submit to our empire, or your federation will be ground to dust." A heavy sigh "A Dragon is a mighty beast, indomitable and unbreakable except through the hardest opposition. It is the creature we show on our flag, curled around Earth, our lost home. Have you never once questioned why we have chosen such a display when we so openly embrace pacifism?" "You should take that call" as he said that the ambassadors communicator ringed and he snarled a angry tone towards whoever dared interupt him. Mere seconds later his aggresive stance flattened. "You have assaulted our colonies, our civilians, murdered children and innocents. The Dragons have answered the call." A hundred lightyears away within the Grrekxt borders, thousands of ships emerge from impossible fractures in realspace and without word begin firing. Weapons impossible to describe tear fleets and moons apart with equal ease. This is why humans have no home. Their War does not know anything but the absolute elimination of the other. The Total Annihilation of their opponent. "We have chosen peace not because we fear War. But because our species revels in it." Ambassador Johns said before firing his hidden weapon.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	From the chornicles of the last days of Etheria, Author unknown: We are not going to win this war. Nobody could win this. We have to end it, to surrender, to run, to do something but we can not win. At first everything was going fine for us. We were winning battles, every battle. Nothing they did could stop us. And in our victories we became cruel and evil. We really left them no choice. What else could they have done? Wait for their extinction? Desperate times lead to desperate measures and we made them so very desperate. The first stories started to be whispered in the third year of the war. I thought it were ghost stories. We were, at most, one year away from completely wiping them from the face of the galaxy. Of course they would try to spread propaganda to make us slow down. That was, until I saw it myself. It wasn't all of them. Maybe 1 in 5000. Maybe less, maybe more. But those few, they had done something to them. They wouldn't die anymore. I shot him. I know I shot him. Square in the center of the chest. And he fell. I saw the blood on the ground but then he got back up. He just got back up and kept coming. And I shot him again. And he got back up. In the end, he got hit by an explosion. With enough damage they don't come back. But he killed dozens of ours before. I am sure they feel the pain. I heard them scream as they are hit and when we managed to capture one and experiment on him he even cried. They feel the pain but they don't slow down and they do not stop...and they learn. What type of species does that to themselves? What type of species turns themselves into monsters? And what type of people will keep running head on into death over and over again? We call them "the numbers" now. Each one of them has a number written on their shoulder, the number of deaths they faced. Last week I saw one attacking a fortified position. 50 of our people inside, one of him. His number was 378. He learned from 378 mistakes. He had the experience of 378 deaths and probably taken 20 times that number of lives. Even if we had a reliable way to kill them, we couldn't stop them. This one didn't even get shot once in that assault. He just went through our defenders like they were sheep being slaughtered. But that's not even the worst thing. 1 in 5000, we could deal with. it's not that many. Heavy caliber shots to the head or explosions work. Maybe we would have to sacrifice some of our men but we could do it. But the humans rallied behind the numbers. With hope came the will to fight and with that every man and woman became a warrior, all with the same determination as the numbers. Those who can't die lead those who aren't afraid to. Those who can't fight anymore work to make weapons for those who can. Their entire species has turned themselves into a war machine. They fight, they train, they build. They do not stop. That first time I saw a number is now 7 years ago. The tide of the war has shifted long ago. I can't even remember the last time I heard about a victory on our side. That battle 6 months ago where they retreated after having killed 5 times as many of us as we killed of them? Should we call that a victory? We pulled all we had together for that fight and they retreated, regrouped, hit our unguarded flanks and broke our line the next day. Nobody who "won" that battle ever left the site of it. They encircled them and killed them all. Our leadership still hopes they can win. They hope some new technology or new allies will turn the tide of battle. It wont. Nothing can stop people like that. We have made a terrible mistake. We thought they wanted peace because they were afraid of fighting. That wasn't true. They wanted peace because they were afraid of what fighting again would turn them into. They knew that, deep down, they were warriors and monsters. They were afraid to ever let that side of them out again. I can only pray that they will forgive us this mistake. That they will want to be those good peaceful people again. Because we can not stop them. Only they can stop themselves. And if they do not want to, I am certain that the Etherian Empire will only live on in history books. If you ever read those words and find the humans to be a peaceful people who strive for diplomacy and friendship with all species, understand that this is their decision, not their nature. And if you make them abandon that choice, you will face a storm that you can't imagine. I can hear the sirens now. I need to get back to my post. They have already taken the access road and the second post yesterday. We have set up defensive positions but I don't think they will hold. But I will go out, I will man my station. I will fight like they do, without fear. I can hear the sirens. Our positions won't hold.	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We should have realized, should have listen, when Ensign Blaagk , played that recording he found from Earth's History. "It is our Love of Nation , our way of life , of those we serve side by side with. We Defend we Avenge, we sacrifice, we bleed, and we are willing to Die for this unique creation. We Have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you kno whats good for you. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down. We seen war, we don't want WAR. But if you Want WAR, there is one thing I can promise you, someone else will raise your sons and daughters." All at high command thought this to be a comedy broadcast of forgotten ages. It was soo funny how tough the Humans were acting on the show. It must not be real. Or so High Command believed. When the first wave of landing ships touchdown on the planet. The troops spilled out onto the open fields, still no humans there to meet them and bow down to our might. But when our troops marched away from the drop ships. That is when All Hell Broke Loose. The drop ships came under direct attack. within 30 minutes the Humans had captured all the drop ships. In 3 hours our own drop ships were heading into orbit and began attacking the mother ship. Painted on the sides of all drop ships "TOTAL WAR" Our ground troops had been ambushed several miles away from each landing site. The Humans had been hiding, in trees, under ground, in buildings, they dressed themselves like bushes, like rocks. Bombs, Bullets, Mortars, Rockets, Missiles slammed into our ground forces from every direction. Our troops had No time to get into formation, to get their kill ranks and squads formed up before the Humans cut them down. And cut our troops apart they did. Near one Landing site, Black clad small men with curved shiny blades dropped out of trees and cut our troops in half. Our comms channels was blocked by a Human saying repeating over and over, "Cry Havoc, and Loose the Dogs of WAR!" We Never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them The Mother ship has crashed into their planet, shield are down, all defenses are down, the crew is fighting compartment to compartment to try and hold the Humans back while they try and fix the interstellar emergency be-can. But the Humans destroyed the array in the first strike, and as soon as they breached the hull the made their way to command deck and executed all the officers there, by cutting their heads off, so the entire crew could see over vid screen. They then seized engineering and crashed the ship on purpose. There are Humans all over the ship. Those that are not fighting and killing the crew are stealing everything they can get their hands on. I am hiding in a escape pod , watching the monitor screens, Lt. Blaagk last living officer of Earth Invasion Fleet.	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The expansion into the Sol system was supposed to be the latest iteration in a pattern I had repeated dozens of times across my career. for civilisations falling just below type I, we would initiate first contact, and demand vassalisation. seventy five percent of all civilisations we encountered stopped at this step, in face of our overwhelming technological superiority it was the logical choice. The remaining twenty five mounted a quick but often bloodless defence, followed by an honorable surrender and assecsion to the empire. The humans of Earth returned our ambassador flayed and mutilated. The humans, who up until our arrival had been at each other's throats owing to petty tribalism and coveting each other's natural resources united virtually overnight against us. Nearly every object they produced was hastily retooled into a weapon of war. When we expended their supply of military atmospheric craft, they turned to crashing civillian transports laden with chemical explosives into our installations. The closer we came to defeating them, the more brutal they became. They hurled chemicals of crude noxious gasses at our soldiers, scorching their repsiratory organs. Platoons of soldiers that surrendered en-masse turned out to be infected with a genetically engineered plague tailored for our biology. Children approached our armored columns, seemingly out of curiosity, which we had seen before. Except these children had explosive vests hidden under their coats, remote triggered by a vengeful parent hiding in rubble nearby. We had been begrudgingly compared to "Romans" by more cooperative humans, refering to an ancient power that while imperialist, maintained a strong sense of professionalism and discipline. Yet in the face of such a brutal enemy, the discipline our combat units, trained for dozens of human years and battlehardened from dozens more of interplanetary campaigns began to break down. Twitchy commanders, suffering from a mental illness we had never seen, yet humans easily diagnosed as "post traumatic stress syndrome" soon gunned down approaching humans on sight, and prisoners were seldom taken. All this only had the effect of intensifying humanity's burning hatred for our empire. What should have taken less than half of their years instead took a decade, and four armies worth of reinforcements. Finally, we had reduced their regular militaries to haggard fanatics hiding in subterranean bunkers across the planet. Yet just before we breached the final bunker containing their leadership, and remaining military infrastructure, the leadership activated a network of missiles containing fusion warheads, hidden in previously unencountered submersible vehicles scattered across their oceans. If we couldn't have earth, nobody could. These missiles were not powerful enough to even make orbit around their planet, much less strike our staging bases on their moon. This told us that the humans had built such a destructive weapons system not for use on us, but on each other. The results of the campaign had a traumatic effect not only on our soldiers, but the entire empire. The value of earth was it's breathable atmosphere, a perfect target for colonisation. Yet in the push of a button, humans made a decade of war, the deaths of hundreds of millions of our soldiers, and quintillions of credits meaningless. We evacuated and quarantined Earth, and the entire system was seen as effectively haunted. I never saw another human again after their species' self immolation. Yet I remain haunted by one thought: If even a dozen breeding pairs of humans were to survive and persist, then our civilisation is in mortal danger. Their children would grow up in caves with respirator masks permanantly affixed to their heads, hearing tales of burning hatred, consecrating themselves as avatars of vengence before they could read. Even if it took a thousand years, they would crawl groaning and screaming out of the ashes until they could stand, and they would not sit until vengence for our crimes against their ancestors had been extracted ten times over.	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The great Kreen empire had ruled for millennia, ever expanding with trillions of souls on thousands of worlds all toiling away for the benefit of the Dai'Kreen, the God Kings who ruled with an iron fist. The Kreen first learned of the humans through rumors of encounters on the outer fringes of the empire. Stories of underwhelming ships approaching Kreen vessels, attempting to hail them with declarations of peace and desire for trade. The humans knew not of the ways of the Kreen, the Kreen have no need for trade, they take what they desire, nor do they care for peace, the only peace is subjugation under the Dai'Kreen. Conflict began gradually, the negotiations of the humans, begging for peace, groveling for the mercy of the Dai'Kreen to "spare innocent lives" but the Kreen cared not for the wishes of lesser beings. The Dai'Kreen were destined to own the galaxy and any within it belonged to the empire, the Kreen would enlighten the humans of this truth. The Dai'Kreen gave the humans one last warning. "Hundreds of races have faced the might of the Kreen empire and all have fallen. Those who willingly embraced the empire were accepted with open arms. Prepare your world's for Kreen rule, yield to the empire and we will be lenient. Resist and face decimation." The human's reply was slow coming, but brief. "So be it." The Dai'Kreen struck first. The skies of a dozen human worlds were shattered at once as rift gates opened high above them. Relativistic darts, rods of ultra high density material accelerated to near the speed of light, tore through the rifts and impacted the human worlds with phenomenal force. Planets broke, billions died in an instant. The Kreen expected humanity to fold in the face of such horror, but the Dai'Kreen did not know humans. They did not know that every major scientific advancement in human history had been a a direct result of conflict. They didn't know that humanity had unlocked the power of the atom all in an attempt to more efficiently kill their own kind. The Kreen did not know that humanity had pushed itself to the brink of extinction on multiple occasions because of precisely how effecient they were at warfare. The Dai'Kreen did not know they were not the first empire to make this grave mistake in judgement. Billions of humans died in the initial salvo but the Kreen were unaware of the psychological effect that would have on humanity. The Kreen expected the humans to see the destruction caused and be awestruck by its majesty, paralyzed in the face of annihilation. They were not aware of the single most unique trait of the humans. Tenacity. When the humans broke the seals on the Armory Wolrds that housed their hidden armadas, hundreds of planet sized hangars released hundreds of thousands of warships all with the sole purpose of avenging the lives lost in the Kreen's techerous opening attack. Human fleets pushed deep into the core of the Kreen empire, world after world systematically pacified or liberated by the sheer overwhelming capacity for violence the humans possessed. The humans pushed the Dai'Kreen back to their ancient seats of power, the Throne Worlds of their home system. Here the remaining Dai'Kreen in a desperate attempt at reconciliation begged the humans for mercy. "Surely there is a way that both our great races can thrive? None could withstand the might of our great empires, together the Kreen and humanity could rule the galaxy unapposed." The encroaching human fleet did not initially respond, but they briefly held their fire. Seeing a potential the Dai'Kreen hailed them once more. "We hoped reason would prevail, we know now what a grave mistake we made refusing your attempts at peace -" The human's leader abruptly cut into the Dai'Kreen broadcast. "No, I don't think you realize just how big a mistake you made, but you will. You fucked around, now find out." Suddenly the Kreen sensors were blinded by thousands of simultaneous bursts of Gama radiation as the human ships tore open space time and jumped away from the Throne Worlds. Moments later another far brighter flash of light engulfed the Throne Worlds. The super weapon deployed by the humans during the lull in fighting had accomplished its goal, the sun at the center of the Throne Worlds went nova incinerating the Dai'Kreen and any left loyal to their rule. Humanity reshackled its weapons of war, returned to its ways of peace and continued to explore the cosmos under a white flag. Not because they feared for their own survival, but for the survival of anyone else.	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	As the fleet began final approach to the human’s home system, I can’t help but to think how the finale of decades of war originally started. The specie’s sin, as countless others have been, was intruding on our space. The Imperium cared nothing for reckless exploration and expansion, finding a safe path through the wilds of interstellar space was too dangerous for such reckless risks. But, if a xenos species was to stumble into our territory, it was nothing to follow their path back to a habitual world. In these eventualities, the High Council would raise an conquest force, drawn from all worlds, and continued to do so until all trace of the race was erased from existence. Then, and only then, would the conquerors be disbanded and settled on those worlds they had taken. The first encounter with the humans had proven them unsuitable to existence. Any animal will fight to protect itself, but the first of their species taken claimed that they have moved past such things. A laughable concept and they were the first of the vermin exterminated. Like every other time in the ages past, a fleet was being assembled. But, before it could be launched, another human vessel violated our space. Those on board claimed they were envoys of peace and only wanted to find a way to coexist with us. No reply was sent except the ion trails of our weapons penetrating their ship’s hull. The first worlds fell easily. They had defenses, true, even warships in orbit, but chronological scans showed the youngest was built a hundred years ago. As the fleet pushed deeper in their territory, the gravitational residue of their warp drives making easily followed paths through space, the worlds became harder to defeat. The warships remained old, the only recent construction found in the orbital shipyards were passenger ships, constructed in an attempt to evacuate the populations. Most of the time the only sightings of these ships was their engines pushing them into recently opened warp portals as they fled. The remaining ships and population fighting to the last in defense of their worlds. It was strange, though. Even though the warships kept getting older the further we went, their offensive capabilities improved with each engagement. What began as antiquated atomic weapons with chemical propulsion evolved to rail weapons launching high density loads at .99c. After years, we began to fight in engagements with ships wielding weapons that broke down the molecular bonds of their targets and finally canons that created artificial singularities that could destroy entire ships, crushing them to a infinitesimal mass in a single shot. It mattered not, because with an entire Empire constantly supplying new warships and warriors, the numbers would win out in the end no matter how they slowed us. Finally, only one system remained. From the intelligence gathered over the course of the long and brutal war, we knew their home system was fairly average. A main-type star, four rocky planets, four gas giants with large lunar systems, an asteroid belt, and several score of various sized planetoids. Most of the system was settled, and the humans were sure to fight harder here than anywhere else. Reinforced by every refugee ship that had been driven before us for all this time. The fleet exited our warp gates in the midsts of the system, where our stellar cartographers said their home planet would be, our engines cycling down for their recharge period. It was a devastating force of over 15,000 ships ready to overwhelm the planet in a single blow. The only thing there was a satellite orbiting the distant sun. There was nothing else in the system. No planets. No asteroids. The only thing our scanners could find were traces of dust and gas where our computers said planets should be in their stable orbits. I turned to my console as a communication signal was picked up from the satellite. It was a message on repeat that made my blood freeze in my veins as I realized just what kind of enemy we had so underestimated for so long. “Since the moment our species met, we have asked you for peaceful coexistence and you have responded with genocide. Every time your fleets appeared above one of our worlds, we would repeat our plea and you would ignored it. We hoped that if we would go far enough away, you would leave us be, but we learned that you would not stop. We knew we could not defeat you with the resources that we had used to expand our race to the starts. That it would take all that we had to end your aggression. What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done. Your stated purpose was to eliminate our race and take what was ours for your own. We will attempt the same and only one will remain when the last enemy falls.” As sensor readings began pouring in, the computer being overwhelmed as the numbers of reactors coming online rose over one million. The largest of the enemy ships, ten times larger than my flagship, and outnumbering it at least 25,000 to 1. Other ships classes were intermixed, including the ships that our forces would see leaving the worlds they arrived to conquer, but each and every ship scanned showed a single common trait: they were all younger than the age of the crusade. Every ship in the armada had been built since our first encounter. As the human ships warp gates began opening all throughout the system’s halo, one more sensor reading caught my attention. The sun at the center of the system was actively losing stability and was going nova. Our ships were to recently out of warp space and those engines wouldn’t be able to recharge in time to escape. The human’s message was still playing in the background and I realized, “What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done,” they meant everything. They were forcing their star to explode to destroy our fleet and were going to retrace our path before spilling into the Empire. I didn’t know if the combined might of our planets could stand against this, but as the distant star began to explode and my subordinates screamed at me for orders, I found I couldn’t bring myself to care.	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	It was at the Preserve Peace Committee meeting that the Radant ambassador rose - standing his full eight feet in height - and Cast the Dorples. The handful of obsidian shards released from his hands assumed the position "Rapid Change - High Energy". Some attendees sitting at the table looked around to see how other species had reacted, but most simply looked down, their postures indicating "Inevitable Sorrow". The poor Humans, so helpful. So helpless. The Radants were warlike, and had accrued their empire by conquest. The Humans were inquisitive, charming, and had built their empire through exploration, and a willingness to work hard to make even sub-par systems viable. The rich empire they now commanded was alas, ripe for the taking by the ever-hungry Radants. The Human ambassador looked carefully at the Dorples, and with one finger, gently nudged one until the bundle of shards shifted into "Contrition, Regret". The Radant barked in contempt. "No placating words will work this time Human, your diplomacy will avail you nothing." The Human ambassador sighed, and assumed the posture "Attend, I Explain". She spoke very softly, so that the other diplomats had to lean in close to hear her words. "Diplomacy does work. And I want to be very clear. When you ask for mercy, we shall hear your plea." The Radant simply glared in response. The Human shifted her posture to "Polite Regret, Imminent Departure". "Please excuse me, I must leave and help my species prepare". She then lifted the shards and Cast the Dorples anew, and then abruptly left. The shards fell into an unfamiliar pattern, that caused some consternation. Those with the subtlety to read the Dorples saw "Total War". What did that mean? Was it one of those idioms that Humans were so fond of? In any case, that was the last time any attendees saw the Human Ambassador Helen Cochrane. When next they saw her, she was General Cochrane, 15th Fleet, Commanding. Her armada consisted of some thirteen hundred Avenger class battle cruisers, a hundred thousand Katana class fighters, and fifty thousand other support vessels, repair ships, mining rigs, and so on. The 15th Fleet was one of over two hundred such fleets, and they had - after many initial setbacks - proved to be the equals of the Radants in battle, and subsequently their masters. The early Radant successes had been against almost unarmed Human vessels, ill-suited to combat, easily beaten. Yet the Humans had flown them anyway, and fought in them. With great sacrifice, they had slowed the Radant invasion just a little. But that was just enough for their newly built shipyards to come on line, and then the Radants had to face the Humans in their newly designed Defender class battle cruisers. This had stopped the Radant invasion entirely. And as the Radant forces waited for reinforcements from home, the Humans had developed their Avenger class ships. And produced them in prodigious numbers. Armed with weapons no one had seen before, of unknown potential, and seemingly invulnerable to Radant Annihilator beams, these new Avenger vessels had swiftly turned the tide of the war. Most of the much-vaunted Radant had been destroyed in a single blow at the Battle of Centauri Reach. The Humans had destroyed Radant outposts, military garrisons, indeed the entire infrastructure of the Radant war machine. So much destruction inspired awe, and in many quarters fear. No one could stand against the Humans, if they chose to make war, so great was their might. Yet in each system, they siphoned off part of their forces to help the Radants rebuild. Most of the Human forces were now scattered throughout Radant space, rebuilding space ports and solar harvesters, helping ordinary Radants rebuild their lives. And now the Humans were on Radant itself, meeting a peace delegation. General Cochrane approached the table where the Radant delegates sat. She took a velvet pouch from her pocket, and withdrew the shards within, and with great precision, she Cast the Dorples. They clattered on the table and assumed "Tempest, Destruction". One of the Radants gingerly reached out, and nudged a shard. The small pile shifted, and assumed "Desperation, Repentance". Cochrane paused and with a single tap, the shards now read "Watchful Benevolence". "War is a crime, and the ones who forced it upon us will pay, and justice shall be their lot. But let us turn our thoughts to peace, now." The Radants eagerly accepted the terms offered, and after a few years of Human rule, had once again become self-governing. The human fleet still existed, but had been de-militarised, and now most of it was in civilian hands, used as transport vessels, mining rigs, energy harvesters, and what have you. Did you know that you can still get surplus Human Katana fighters? They make great gas giant skimmers at a cost that is hard to beat. I think I know now what "Total War" means.	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We knew humans were weak. We knew they were kind. We knew they avoided every conflict through negotiation and diplomacy. We knew humanity had not wage war in over a thousand years. We knew humanity was one of the oldest civilization's, and yet, had the weakest army. We did not know their history. We did not know of the thousands lost at the hands of their own kin. We did not know the humans had learned what the universe was only just discovering. We learned. The Yuka's were a violent species. War was in their blood, and their rejoice in spilling their enemies. The union had keep them away from most inhabitated planets for centuries. And then...And then the Yuka's thought they had founded the weak link. They attack Earth. Earth was not ready. Earth burned (billions died. The oceans and forest humans had so painstakingly reconstruct from their ancestor's sins turned to ashes) (I have not heard a scream with such pain from my human friend before. I could do nothing but watch as she fell to her knees. I pitied her.) Humans were brought close to extinction, with only those in the colonies surviving. We were willing, of course, to take every refuge; they were, after all, a peaceful species, they couldn't possibly defend themselves. None came. They took what little ships they still had. They brought their children to the union, and declared war. None of them smiled. We thought it was suicide. We were right. The Yoka's had signed their death warrant. Humanity, they discovered, was not kind. Humans, they learned, had war in the souls (for how else can you explain the grieving mother that took down a warship by herself. The lone soldier that decimated three planet colonies. The army that had raised from the ashes of their pain). When the Yoka's had only their original planet left, they plead for mercy. They plead for their children. They beg for diplomacy. And, like Earth, they burned. ( "There's no one left" I didn't say, when I saw my friend again. "You killed thousands" I didn't scream, when she smiled at me. "You are a monster" I didn't murmur, when I look into her eyes (she knew) "What now?" I ask, instead. She leaned against me, looking at the stars. I try to ignore the knowledge of the amount of blood in those thin arms. "We build up again." She smiled. "We, humans, are good at that". )	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Torus took his seat at the table, one of 11 identical seats. As he glanced around the circle, his upper mouth twisted into a frown. Typically, the ten representatives of the Federation took joy in subtly outdoing one another at their meetings. This human insistance on identical seats set at a round table was perplexing. The way of the Federation was simple. Ten species ruled coequally. Other species joined as clients. To join, they accepted the extermination of two thirds of their species. The remainder took their rightful place in breeding programs, coupled with overhaul of industry and agriculture. This ensured the continued prosperity of the Federation. Occasionally, some future clients proved troublesome. For them, the Federation had the Ru'a. Kronan scientists discovered the Ru'a early on. A primitive species, but perfect for genetic modification. Now, all Ru'a we're clones. There were no females. Missing proteins in their cells ensured they depended on the Federation for survival. When needed, entire armies could be grown. When the Federation was finished with them, they thrown away. Few Ru'a survived past the age of 5. Torus looked up, gratefully, at his Ru'a guards. The humans had no idea what was coming for them. A door on the other side of the chamber opened and the human diplomat seated himself at the table. These diplomats - the humans thought they could talk their way out of their fate. Some suspected they even thought to secure full representation for themselves. Ridiculous! The human spoke, "We have reviewed the terms of Federation membership and, I apologize, but we do not find them acceptable. While your Federation is certainly a powerful force, we would prefer to take things a little slower. I am sure that, one day, we may sit together as friends, but for now, perhaps we should focus on building some preliminary trade agreements. There are many possibilities -" The human was interrupted by a fist banging on the table. Kruathanan, of the Ghorsh, never took kindly to resistance. "Silence, human," he hissed, "You talk and you talk. You wear your diplomacy like a cloak of protection, thinking it will keep you safe. Nothing can save you." The human stared at Ghorsh. At first, Torus thought he was frightened. After a few moments, he checked his timepiece and it became clear that he was merely thinking. Again, he spoke, "You are all so mighty. Nothing can match you for speed or strength. Your lives are counted in centuries. We humans are different. Like your Ru'a, every day is a struggle to survive. Our lives are short. Death stands over us, every moment of every day." "When Death stands over you, you can do one of three things. You can fight it, which is ultimately-" "-futile." Torus turned to his guard in surprise. All of the Ru'a seemed to have become oddly intent. There was an edge to them that Torus had never seen before. The human didn't seem surprised at all. "Exactly, thank you. The second choice is to run from it. We had a poet who once wrote, because I would not stop for Death, Death kindly stopped for me. You cannot outrun Death." The Ru'a all chuckled. Torus didn't know they even had a sense of humor. "The third option is to make Death your friend and companion. To learn from Death. To allow Death to make you wise. We have learned much. Patience. Forgiveness." He turned to look, again, at Ghorsh. "You think we engage in diplomacy, to wear this cloak, to protect ourselves? No, we wear it to protect you. In times of trouble. Kronans can turn to their intellect. Kruathanan can turn to their strength." He nodded at Torus, "The Tun can rely on their cunning. We humans have only Death. We can be your friend, or we can kill you all. I'm afraid there is no middle ground." He glanced at his timepiece. "I'm sorry, this is taking longer than I thought. We will not mire ourselves in generations of war, and we most certainly will not accede to your demands. If you will not be our friends, then know that Death is coming." He nodded towards the Ru'a. "These brave men are like us. They live with Death. But unlike them, we have not been made small by false gods. You sit with us at this table because you think you have taken the measure of our resistance. This is merely the beginning." Ghorsh, fool that he was, began bellowing all of the things he planned to do to the human diplomat. There were threats about eating his heart while he still lived. Something about burning the diplomats family alive. The diplomat looked... bored. During a pause for breath the diplomat interjected, "You think I made an empty threat. Make no mistake, Death is coming for you. Every one of you has a weakness. The Kruathanan atmosphere, for instance, is very fickle. It doesn't take much to turn it against you." He checked his timepiece again. "Approximately 3 minutes ago, a Terran raiding vessel was likely destroyed by your planetary defenses. Before destruction it released a compound into your atmosphere. By now, your sky is beginning to darken. In a few hours, your people will have suffocated." The color drained from Ghorsh's face. He began to rise from the table, but a sharp crack sent him slumping to the floor, tail twitching. One of his Ru'a guards had broken his neck. The other representatives were, likewise, dispatched. Torus found himself awash in pain as his head hit the table. The guard had snapped his first and second neck, but missed the third. He could only watch in agony as the Ru'a pledged themselves to the humans and watch in disbelief as the humans pledged to find a way to free the Ru'a from their enslavement. He listened to them as they planned their conquest, to free all the client worlds of the Federation and reforge it anew. One of the Ru'a noticed him watching. The last thing Torus heard was the snapping of his third neck.	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Admiral. A title relegated to the best of Naval Officers, a true leader. Farragut. Porter. Dewey. Fletcher. King. Nimitz. Kinkaid. Halsey. Spruance. Burke. The greatest Navy men in the United States, or so I have been told. In the Navy, it is one of the highest ranks one can attain. To be an Admiral is a great honor. So why do I not feel honored to take this position? Of course, I know why. I am in no way the intended person for this role. A traitor to my homeland, a deserter of my Legion, a guerrilla naval specialist, a "Tin Can Captain". And most importantly, a Krai-toln. The very ruling race of the Empire that Humanity is set on fighting. I know I have earned my title. My list of awards given by the Navy is long and impressive; the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroic Actions at the Battle of Mars, two Purple Hearts, one for the Battle of Sirius and one for Operation 'Achy Breaky Heart', the Navy Cross, the E. E. Evans 'Last Stand' Award for Actions at the Battle of Bernard's Star, and many more lesser awards. I know I do not belong here - yet, everyone says I do. Humans are the nicest, yet most terrifying race I have ever met. The closest phrase I can think of to describe Humanity is "Dignified Indignity", and that goes for their warfare, too. Where the Krai-toln uses lasers and electromagnetic pulses, the Humans use ballistics and atom-splitters. It is a totally indignant form of warfare, yet, under a orderly, calm mask of dignity. Yet, there is one form of warfare where Humanity is completely and utterly dignified, and would not dare stray into indignity: diplomacy. I have read of situations, misunderstandings, that back in the Empire would've been a declaration of War. Yet, as the young man tasked with bringing me 'up to speed' with history said, "cooler heads prevailed." I will say, there are no 'cooler heads' in the Kraii Empire. It is a nation of pure war, built to do nothing but destroy and assimilate. As much as I hate to say it, the Krai-toln people are much the same, told by their dictators what to think, what to say, and who to fight to gain "glory and power". I did not even know about the death statistics for Kraii Legionaries until I fled to the side of the Humans, into the arms of the US Navy, where they documented every kill and mourned every loss; a completely unheard of tradition in the Kraii Empire, at least under the current regime. 78.62% of all Kraii Legionaries sent into battle do not come back alive. Of that 21.38%, another \~20% are killed upon return to their commanding officers, being deemed either too damaged to be useful to the War Effort or being a failure to the Kraii Nation for having fled battle, even if that battle was already over. The 1-or-so percentage left alive are commanding officers, sons of rulers or commanding officers, or those rich enough to purchase the ability to fight another day. It is clear to me that a total war to Humans is a completely different thing to a Kraii "Always War". A human total war is a complete mobilization of a nation to defeat an enemy, temporarily expanding the armed forces to a massive extent with those willing to fight against those who have wronged the homeland they love. It is a last step along a path of diplomacy, a final option if all else fails. A Kraii "Always War" - the "Ker-to-wesyllison" - is a permanent state. All citizens must fight, make goods for the fight, or command the fight. Those who cannot are exterminated. There is no place for diplomacy, no place for peace, no place for health, only fighting and dying. It is really no wonder, then, that the Humans are the ones winning the war. Should a Human return from a battle injured, he is not killed, nor is he a failure. He is a hero, and is treated as such. What with the Kraii would be a practice only reserved for those at the very top of the command chain is common place with the Humans. It is amazing; for all my time in the Kraii Legions, I never once saw a medic. Here, it seems there is one around every corner, seeking people to help. A profession built on sympathy. And that is what separates Humanity from the Kraii Empire: Sympathy. One cannot heal, negotiate, learn from, or otherwise treat another being as an equal without some degree of sympathy. It seems to be a trait ingrained in humans, a natural response to any interaction, good or bad. It is even seen as a mental illness to not have any sympathy for other beings. This is far removed from the Kraii of today. I suspect we used to have ingrained sympathy; landmarks such as the Monument to Unity in the very heart of the capitol of the Empire attest to a much more Human-like past. However, any sign of this in today's Krai-toln soldiers is sadly uncommon. It is still there, shining to the surface in some occasions, even leading to defections such as mine. For most Krai-toln, though, sympathy is missing, bred out by their leaders to create a race of near-perfect warriors. Their near-perfect warriors are faltering. A human shot by a Krai-toln will most likely be healed and back in action within the month; a Krai-toln shot by a human and not rescued by humans will be most surely dead, left to die by the very government he fights for. Destroyed human supplies will be replaced by the end of the day by the hard-working men and women giving their all in the factories; destroyed Kraii supplies are only replaced when living workers can be found, the workers who made the previous supplies having already been killed for some minor mistake their government found intolerable. We will win this Total War, because for Humanity, and for it's allies, for those who believe in freedom, liberty, and individuality, war is temporary. Mistakes are forgivable. Sympathy is given to those who need it. And that is why, today, I stand here and accept the role of Admiral in the United States Navy. Not because it is what I deserve. Not because it is what my commanders declare. No, I accept this role because I truly believe in the ways of humanity, of sympathy, of diplomacy before war, of temporary war. I have seen what a total destruction of sympathy and diplomacy can do. I have seen the results of an "Always War". And I never wish to witness it again, and I shall do my best with the power I have been given to make sure an "Always War" is never allowed to occur again. I encourage all of you to do the same. -Admiral Jrell Vohanne Kelard-Synn, United States Navy "The Grand Acceptance Speech" - Given Aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, Docked at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, November 11, 2089 (Still an amateur at this - give constructive criticism, please! I am looking for all ways to improve!)	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	An excerpt from Species Relations Within The Tri-Galactic Sector, Kirkkolan F. [Hawkens Joseph trans.], G.I. 1445, Grand Triumvirate Library. #14. Newcomers ##III. Humanity While we might discuss at length the effect Tri-Galactic (relative) newcomers might have on inter-species relations, none is more deserving or paradigm-destroying as the self described Homo Sapiens, A.K.A Humanity. While the humans have only been apart of the Galactic Triumvirate for 400 intervals (the reader might recall that Spacrals had introduced themselves 3500 intervals ago, a difference of nearly a full power of ten), they have clearly made the largest impact seen in this ‘new expansion’ era, bringing peace to both lesser and greater species, and attaining a representative seat on the Grand Council in record time. Throughout this book I have presented each species through the lens of their First Contact War, but amazingly I cannot continue this tradition for Humanity as they did not have an FCW. Despite the fact that they made First Contact with the infinitely irritable and belligerent Monglas resulting in a small skirmish, the humans have noted that they universally celebrated this interaction across their controlled sectors. Above all, humans are social creatures, to the point that they have essentially forced themselves into a universal peace, lest they be unable to act socially with any of their own. However, this lead to a collective loneliness within their species, as they had yet to discover any trace of alien life. When I was conversing with an “anthropologist” (in short, a human occupation dedicated to studying their own distinct cultures), they described to me that the human race as a whole was experiencing a lack of social excitement as their own society had homogenized to the point where they felt an extreme lack of discovery. Their word for this is as strange as it is difficult to pronounce (for many of us without flexible mouths at least): “ennui”. This feeling of ennui became so strong that the goal of First Contact became an almost religious belief in their society, the one thing that would save them from ultimate stagnation. When humanity fought against the Monglas, they did not despair at faltering in the face of a technologically superior fleet, nor mourned the deaths of their comrades, but rather cheered that they no longer had to face the void of space alone. This led them to disrupting the Monglas’ usual singleminded violence as they translated and began communicating with the alien fleet in record time. While the Monglas fleet could not be described as ‘peaceful’ in this moment, they were so confused by the human reaction that they decided to simply retreat. The remainder of Humanity’s history in the GT will only slightly differ as, more so than any other species, they unilaterally push for peace and friendship for all. The reader might scoff at such a naïve goal for a species, but one only needs to spend a single evening with a human to understand that they truly desire only companionship both as an individual, and as an entire distinct society of beings. Some might argue that humans are a flawed, simpering species because of this. I would agree, however I encourage the reader to view this as a benefit to our great Tri-Galactic Sector, as it is a wholly unique culture among us, and one that has prevented many conflicts across the intervals. As we progress through the rest of this section I intend to present….. _______ Continued in comment replies	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	"Mx. Ambassador, I really do urge you to reconsider this. Contact your government, there is still time." Niobe Gudrunsdottir leaned forward, her face serious. "You don't want this war." L'hish smilled, xis ingestion mouth drawing a flat line that extended the full height of xis face as xis vocal orifices intoned musically. "You are mistaken. My government has been preparing for this for some time. No more of your smug, conciliatory diplomacy, your continual words and meager trade considerations. Your worlds will be ours. Your people will serve us. This is inevitable now. This has been a long time coming. We have prepared for your response. You will not stop us." Xe leaned back, watching his counterpart tap into her datapad and knowing that the Ylnak battlecruisers would already be deep into Human territory, preparing to strike key military installations painstakingly mapped over the last several years. A fleet built up over decades, kept in secret even as the Humans were monitored at every turn. At this point the Human Republic was outgunned an estimated 3-to-1, and the initial strikes would cripple their military production capacity by 25%, with much of the remainder to fall in the following few weeks. It would be a quick, fatal blow. A short war, as the Ylnak preferred. The general populace had no real taste for long conflict even as removed as the core planets were from the multitude of small border skirmishes. The plan was to win almost before the citizenry knew there was a war happening, let it go on long enough to get a few heroes out in front of the holocams, and celebrate another expansion of the Hegemon. "All the pieces are in our chains, your Vion off the board. This is catch-caught." "I beg your pardon?" Niobe looked up from her datapad, her voice calm, distracted. "Ah, you are not familiar with the game of Krtil. You will need to learn it, but for now the closest for you might be..." Xe thought for a moment, grasping for the Human word. "Checkmate?" Niobe nodded with an intellectual frown, as if learning some small piece of trivia. She punched a few more buttons on her datapad then looked up at L'hish. "If that is truly the decision of your government, and I really do wish you would reconsider, but if it is..." "It is. This matter is settled. Good bye." L'hish made to stand. "Just a moment Mx. Ambassador, don't you want to hear our counter offer?" "More of your driveling words? Hear you beg? Does the predator care to hear the bleats of its dying prey? No." L'hish was off xis bench and was halfway towards towards the door. "Oh, but I think you will want to hear it." Something in the woman's voice caught in xis ears, an edge he had never heard before, and xe turned looking at the woman. Her face was an open smile, but her eyes... L'hish had spent years negotiating with Humans and her face.. unsettled xim. Her mouth and expression were neutral except... her eyes. Set against her dark skin, they were an icy blue that had somehow become colder, harder. He didn't know how to read this expression. Xe walked back and settled down, not breaking the lock of eyes for a second. "Speak." "You aren't very familiar with Human history, are you Mx. Ambassador?" "Familiar enough to know you think yourselves past war. A peaceful people. A pacified, tamed people." "Ahh, a common misconception. You see, I am a student of history, Mx. Ambassador, so much so I have one of my PhD's in it. I have read a lot of history and in fact my thesis was an analysis organized militaries versus guerilla and insurgent forces. Tell me, Mx. Ambassador, have you ever read about Vietnam? Or Ireland? Or Afghanistan?" "Your primitive states are of no interest to me." "That's a shame. You see, we Humans study history so that we can learn from it, learn from past mistakes. But why would you study those? The Hegemon has always been victorious, hasn't it?" "It has. Our forces have won in glorious conquest for a thousand years. None can stand against the might of our armadas." Niobe smiled. "Indeed. The only limit to your reach has been how fast you can reproduce and build ships. But let's digress from that. In normal warfare you are unmatched so far, I will concede that as it is self evident. But if you had bothered to read the history of Human warfare, you would have learned something. A very important lesson that you could have learned easily and cheaply, and will now have to be taught, at great cost." "What..." L'hish began, but Niobe put up a finger as her datapad chimed. Xis irritation grew further as she tapped a few controls then nodded as she received a confirmation chirp. She turned back to xim. "The lesson? before I get to that, Mx. Ambassador, can you verify something for me? The population of Kloson on Hirga II is about 10.5 million, yes?" Xe was caught off guard by the non-sequitur, but gathered xis thoughts and replied. "I believe so. I don't see what that has to do..." "Humor me just a moment longer. And Huls on Jedatha VI, roughly 8 million?" "Yes, but..." "Ulkor on Lish III, another 9 million. I believe you have family there... a sibling?" "Yes. What does this have to do with..." "With my thesis? Nothing. And everything. They also have everything to do with that lesson I mentioned. Especially since they now no longer exist." Niobe calmly tapped a few controls on her datapad and the holo in the middle of the room lit up. Spread across it were news feeds from the Hegemon, showing satellite images of the unmistakable star bursts of nuclear detonations intercut with footage from the surface showing rising mushroom clouds as cities incinerated. L'hish was speechless, xis face slack in horror, dumbfounded as xe tried to process what xe was seeing. Xe turned as Niobe spoke again, her voice taking on a pedagogical air. "And now, your promised lesson: We don't play fair; we fight dirty as hell, tooth and nail with every fiber of our being. We will sacrifice anything, destroy everything, accept mutual annihilation as victory, and would rather be extinct than subjugated. We have had these safeguards in place for years, ever since we determined that you more than likely would decide to try your military conquest on us one day. I really hoped we'd never have to use it." "But... those were civilians... innocents... how could you do somethings so... monstrous?" Niobe laughed, a cold hard laughter that rang from the walls, that chilled L'hish to xis cartilage. "That's the thing, Mx. Ambassador. We are monsters. We have tried not to be, but here we are. It was the conclusion of my thesis: Humanity is made of monsters, monsters that need better ways. That is why I am a diplomat, to try and keep us from being such if we don't have to be. And then the Hegemon had to go and press that great big 'do not push' button. Shame." L'hish's comm buzzed insistently. Niobe sipped her coffee, and selected a nibble from a plate. "You should take that. I imagine the Council of Princes have something urgent to say. Let me know if they need more lessons."	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	I am Azar Himolin , former general of the inter-systems fleet. If you are watching this you are either a future officer of what remains of our might, a diplomat in training, learning why your first lesson is about leaving humanity alone, or enough time has passed for some classified documents to be released to the public without heads rolling. sigh I am not proud of us, us Kutyln as a species, us of the military, and especially not us politicians. What I am about to tell you is how we, the strongest might in the galactic cluster, started a war of aggression against a weak species and miserably lost. The Elders are the longest standing space-faring civilization in the cluster, and when a species reaches the point of crossing the void between galaxies they will establish contact. We joined the cluster super civilization that way and so did humanity, they are, or maybe were, the most recent addition. During the first century we found out that humans as individuals are prone to anger and quite belligerent, especially in small groups, but as a species they abhorred war, always resorting to talks, bribes and other shame they called 'diplomacy'. Only maintaining a small standing army to respond to minor aggressions and protect their peace. So, we decided to invade, we could take over a galaxy worth of ressources and it was already explored, with communication and transport channels. The first few offensives went quite well, a handful of patrol crafts utterly useless in front of our battle groups. Humans still clinged to their peaceful ways, asking for cease fire and talks. One day, the council decided to humour them and we received their diplomatic mission. One man. They send one single man, and it was clear to us that he was no diplomat, a high ranking officer in full uniform, a rugged fellow, a former soldier that fought his way through multiple conflicts. Why would they send what we could only think of a a fellow warmonger as a diplomat ? I want you to see who he was. Another video starts to play, a camera feed from the Kutyln council room "I am Thomas Glint, Colonel of the Milky Way Ground Forces, I come here before you asking for peace, asking you to leave the systems you've taken from us and pay reparations, you violated numerous laws set by the Elders and are standing right before Humanity's bottom line. This is an ultimatum and an advice, cease this war, do not cross this line. Do not mistake kindness for weakness !" The camera feed pauses, the voice of the general sounding over it We did not take those words to heart, that was our first mistake, remember that last sentence well, because it was the crux of it all and it haunted me for years after we realized what we did. Our second mistake was believing in the pride of a high ranked military man, in our form of pride. The image goes back to the general The following part is still highly classified and frankly quite gruesome. That man, Colonel Thomas André Glint, taught us everything we needed to know about humanity but we realized to late. We continued to berate him, and were prepared to end it, no diplomat ever came back alive, he was not to be the first and he knew it. He had a chemical bomb implanted before coming and it was not found be the multiple security checkpoints he went through. That man didn't have the pride to stand above all lower ranks like our officers did, he had the pride to go as low as needed for his people. The blast outright killed two councilmen, severely injuries five, two of which would also die soon after and all of us suffered for years of the aftermath. We learnt a lot during the war, we had to face humanity in its entirety as th whole population supported the war effort and rallied behind figureheads and standard bearers, never to surrender. Everything came back to the colonel: we had mistaken their kindness, we cornered them and we created a martyr. We had stood before their bottom line, and had we just taken a step forward maybe we could have backpedalled at some point, but we didn't just cross that line, we launched ourselves as far over as we could have. I am ashamed, I am weary, but most importantly I am sorry, sorry towards the young Kutyln for being one of those that lost our heritage, sorry towards humanity for what I did. Sorry I did not understand what I was taught soon enough. Click (First time writing one of those, but for once the stories in my head wanted to come out. Any feedback and criticism welcome as I have difficulties stringing thought and thus paragraphs together and as English is not my native language.)	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	It squeezed its gun in its hand as it carefully poked its head around the corner of the pile of rubble that once was a building. Close to the ground, slowly, but not a split second longer than absolutely necessary as it had been taught. It was called Tel'moreen. It was a living Weapon, born to kill human living Weapons. Made to kill human soldiers. And currently, it was alone. The rest of its former unit hadn't been able to get out of the valley as the gas-bombs dropped. It had been at the front of the unit, surviving just barely long enough for its medi-suite to get it back on its feet. It considered the situation it was in. A city of its progenitors. A former city. Right now, it was just a bunch of rubble and the occasional two or three floors of a building still standing. Plenty of places for an enemy sniper. It had its orders though. When the lead of its unit was eliminated, it was to return to the nearest control point and be reassigned. The nearest point was on the other side of the former city. so there was no option. It had to make it to the other side. Tel'moreen took a breath, braced itself, and broke into a sprint. As it ran, it kept its head moving. The humans had been favouring spike traps, trip wires and all sorts of other ways to maim rather than kill from the very instant that the war had gone from following the intended path. It could understand the logic there. A soft race that worried about every unit like the humans would fight in a way that capitalized on that. Weigh the enemy down with injured units, slow the advance, buy time to turn every encounter into a butchery. Sensible. And, entirely unlike the humans. For Tel'moreen's kind, the logic didn't really apply. Damaged weapons were either repaired or, if that would take too long, abandoned. Still, the human traps were an endless frustration, thinning out units one Weapon at a time. Tel'moreen dived into cover, allowing itself a moment to breathe. It hadn't been shot, its legs hadn't been blown up by any improvised trap, the pain in its lungs wasn't slowing it down too much just yet. It could keep going, it would just need a moment for... 'maintenence.' Reaching to its hip, it pushed a button that made its medi-suite re-assess its status. ...no change, no additional painkillers to numb the burn. All it could do was to wait until the burning sensation in its chest died down. Time spent waiting was time wasted, but rushing would have been worse. So, it reflected on the battles it fought in. It reflected on the first breath it drew, roughly three Terran years ago. It repeated the lessons it had been taught. About how the humans had been undeserving of the place they held. About how they were soft and refused to fight, even in the face of an Enemy that by all rights, even they would have been able to crush. About how they keps insisting on "talking" instead of letting their Weapons enforce their supposed claims. Tel'moreen grit its teeth. Dart the head out for as little time as possible. Look for the obvious sniper nests. Note the next piece of cover. Note how all the bodies of the other Weapons all fell to the right. Sniper on the left. Circle around. Head out. Tel'moreen dived out of cover, ensuring to keep cover on its left, circling around the apparent kill-zone, just barely managing to cancel its run into a jump and a roll over a thin, nearly invisible wire leading into a pipe. Its first leader had had its legs blown off by a human-made 'hand grenade' hidden in a pipe just like that. Tel'moreen was a well-honed Weapon. It wouldn't blunt itself on the Enemy's weapon any more. It just barely managed to get into cover behind what had been a resitental block, but now didn't reach higher than two floors. Again, the burn from the gas attack was acting up. In the back of its mind, it wondered if it would be decommissioned once it reconnected with high command. The thought was dismissed quickly. Decomissioning was not a threat. Decomissioning was part of being a Weapon and a high honor. Still, Tel'moreen wouldn't be able to keep going for much longer, its lungs burning in its chest. It slumped against the wall, the big pile of rubble right across from it offering cover from... enough sides. It was a solitary target. Even the humans wouldn't waste effort on it, unless it happened to be a target of opportunity. It reflected on when the war had gone off-course. ...It had gone off-course very early on. Tel'moreen had been there, after all. The first attack on a "civilian" target, the opening salvo of the war. A clear-cut signal: "Yield. We will destroy your Weapons, regardless of how long it takes for them to become useful." It never made much sense to Tel'moreen how human Weapons started out as a distinct Caste. Its own species' system made sense: ensure that every member is born knowing what it should do, rather than letting something as fickle as "opinion" or "desire" decide what one's path in life would be. After all, that had been the entire idea behind the initial strike. If any human can "learn" to become a Weapon, but every human starts out with little to no idea what they want to be, kill them before they can decide. Sure, you end up killing everything from Builders to Parents to Leaders to Weapons, but that was the humans' problem. A Weapon is a Weapon from the first moment it draws breath. That is a fact. If a newly born Weapon cannot be distinguished from a newly born Leader, or a newly born Parent, then the only sensible course of action was to kill all "children." If anything, the humans' faillure to properly identify their ofsprings' life path left Tel'moreen with no better option. Kill the "children" before they could "decide" to become Weapons. Tel'moreen itself had proudly joined in a directed attack on the "school" itself. The humans should have expected an attack there, with that many "children" in one place. The burning in its lungs had subsided enough. It got up, ignoring the burn in its legs. Ignoring the moment in which its vision swam, ignoring all the little pains of trying to rush its way back to the command post. Another brief peek around the corner. ...Odd, no bodies between it and the entrance of the command post. The walls were battered but standing, the banners were up, the sentries were standing straight. A sniper spot just a few dozen paces back, and it didn't shoot the sentries? ...Irrelevant. Orders were orders. Tel'moreen took a deep, chest-burning breath, and broke into a sprint. It could feel its body strain under the effort, but it kept going. It felt felt its legs stumble, but it kept going. It felt a bullet just barely miss it (wait, barely? While it was running in a straight line?) but it kept going. It all but dove through the wide-open entrance of the command post, the rough road grinding against its chest until it came to a halt- with a human boot against its head. "And that's twenty. Told you it would be worth taking this shithole," the distinctly human voice spoke up while the foot pressed down harder, keeping it from so much as looking up. "Hold on, Peeler, this one's got one of thowe blue stripes! Like the rest of those shit-lickers from the first wave!" "Dang! Almost missed that... Eh, whatever." Tel'moreen's gun was ripped out of its hands before it could try and push itself into a fighting stance, while its arms were forced behind its back. It should have been able to fight back, to push back but the damage from that gas-attack just days prior was sapping its strength, leaving it forced to its knees. Humans. Not even human Weapons, lacking the distinctive equipment marking human Weapons. Just some assortment of non-Weapons, several of which were holding various guns and other Weapon-equipment with the trained ease of a Weapon. "So!" spoke one of them. Tel'moreen was observant, and decided that this must have been the 'Peeler' the other Human mentioned, "Blue stripe, huh?" "...Yes. I have been awarded with a blue stripe as a member of the leading charge," Tel'moreen confirmed. Denying it would have gone against its teachings. "OK. You get one chance," 'Peeler' said while several of the other human non-Weapons made some low-volume noise with the guns they held. A kind of clicking noise. "Were you involved in the strike against Elysium Elementary School?" "Yes, that was where I earned my blue stripe." Several of the non-Weapons made noises, but it did not matter. They were not Weapons. They couldn't harm a Weapon. "Honest to a fault then. Last chance, then. Why did you do it?" 'Peeler' speaks up. "I had my orders," was the last thing Tel'moreen managed to say, before the non-Weapons opened fire.	“Greetings, my fellow human comrade, you do not know me, but I know you. We once thought ourselves as alone in this universe as a species, and when the others made themselves known to us, we had little choice but to acknowledge them as superiors. And now these superiors have made a terrible choice - we never chose to oppose them, and yet, we now are forced to do so. These aliens take our planets, enslave our kind and use our bodies for cruel experiments and torture. I beseech you, to take up arms and join us in retaking our lands back; in the long history of mankind, we have always fought among ourselves, but now we have a common enemy - and we will now show them hell for making an enemy of us. And I will lead us into a future where there is only peace, a universe that will learn to respect us as a species. I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I ask you once again, “Are you with me?”
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	From the chornicles of the last days of Etheria, Author unknown: We are not going to win this war. Nobody could win this. We have to end it, to surrender, to run, to do something but we can not win. At first everything was going fine for us. We were winning battles, every battle. Nothing they did could stop us. And in our victories we became cruel and evil. We really left them no choice. What else could they have done? Wait for their extinction? Desperate times lead to desperate measures and we made them so very desperate. The first stories started to be whispered in the third year of the war. I thought it were ghost stories. We were, at most, one year away from completely wiping them from the face of the galaxy. Of course they would try to spread propaganda to make us slow down. That was, until I saw it myself. It wasn't all of them. Maybe 1 in 5000. Maybe less, maybe more. But those few, they had done something to them. They wouldn't die anymore. I shot him. I know I shot him. Square in the center of the chest. And he fell. I saw the blood on the ground but then he got back up. He just got back up and kept coming. And I shot him again. And he got back up. In the end, he got hit by an explosion. With enough damage they don't come back. But he killed dozens of ours before. I am sure they feel the pain. I heard them scream as they are hit and when we managed to capture one and experiment on him he even cried. They feel the pain but they don't slow down and they do not stop...and they learn. What type of species does that to themselves? What type of species turns themselves into monsters? And what type of people will keep running head on into death over and over again? We call them "the numbers" now. Each one of them has a number written on their shoulder, the number of deaths they faced. Last week I saw one attacking a fortified position. 50 of our people inside, one of him. His number was 378. He learned from 378 mistakes. He had the experience of 378 deaths and probably taken 20 times that number of lives. Even if we had a reliable way to kill them, we couldn't stop them. This one didn't even get shot once in that assault. He just went through our defenders like they were sheep being slaughtered. But that's not even the worst thing. 1 in 5000, we could deal with. it's not that many. Heavy caliber shots to the head or explosions work. Maybe we would have to sacrifice some of our men but we could do it. But the humans rallied behind the numbers. With hope came the will to fight and with that every man and woman became a warrior, all with the same determination as the numbers. Those who can't die lead those who aren't afraid to. Those who can't fight anymore work to make weapons for those who can. Their entire species has turned themselves into a war machine. They fight, they train, they build. They do not stop. That first time I saw a number is now 7 years ago. The tide of the war has shifted long ago. I can't even remember the last time I heard about a victory on our side. That battle 6 months ago where they retreated after having killed 5 times as many of us as we killed of them? Should we call that a victory? We pulled all we had together for that fight and they retreated, regrouped, hit our unguarded flanks and broke our line the next day. Nobody who "won" that battle ever left the site of it. They encircled them and killed them all. Our leadership still hopes they can win. They hope some new technology or new allies will turn the tide of battle. It wont. Nothing can stop people like that. We have made a terrible mistake. We thought they wanted peace because they were afraid of fighting. That wasn't true. They wanted peace because they were afraid of what fighting again would turn them into. They knew that, deep down, they were warriors and monsters. They were afraid to ever let that side of them out again. I can only pray that they will forgive us this mistake. That they will want to be those good peaceful people again. Because we can not stop them. Only they can stop themselves. And if they do not want to, I am certain that the Etherian Empire will only live on in history books. If you ever read those words and find the humans to be a peaceful people who strive for diplomacy and friendship with all species, understand that this is their decision, not their nature. And if you make them abandon that choice, you will face a storm that you can't imagine. I can hear the sirens now. I need to get back to my post. They have already taken the access road and the second post yesterday. We have set up defensive positions but I don't think they will hold. But I will go out, I will man my station. I will fight like they do, without fear. I can hear the sirens. Our positions won't hold.	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We should have realized, should have listen, when Ensign Blaagk , played that recording he found from Earth's History. "It is our Love of Nation , our way of life , of those we serve side by side with. We Defend we Avenge, we sacrifice, we bleed, and we are willing to Die for this unique creation. We Have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you kno whats good for you. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down. We seen war, we don't want WAR. But if you Want WAR, there is one thing I can promise you, someone else will raise your sons and daughters." All at high command thought this to be a comedy broadcast of forgotten ages. It was soo funny how tough the Humans were acting on the show. It must not be real. Or so High Command believed. When the first wave of landing ships touchdown on the planet. The troops spilled out onto the open fields, still no humans there to meet them and bow down to our might. But when our troops marched away from the drop ships. That is when All Hell Broke Loose. The drop ships came under direct attack. within 30 minutes the Humans had captured all the drop ships. In 3 hours our own drop ships were heading into orbit and began attacking the mother ship. Painted on the sides of all drop ships "TOTAL WAR" Our ground troops had been ambushed several miles away from each landing site. The Humans had been hiding, in trees, under ground, in buildings, they dressed themselves like bushes, like rocks. Bombs, Bullets, Mortars, Rockets, Missiles slammed into our ground forces from every direction. Our troops had No time to get into formation, to get their kill ranks and squads formed up before the Humans cut them down. And cut our troops apart they did. Near one Landing site, Black clad small men with curved shiny blades dropped out of trees and cut our troops in half. Our comms channels was blocked by a Human saying repeating over and over, "Cry Havoc, and Loose the Dogs of WAR!" We Never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them The Mother ship has crashed into their planet, shield are down, all defenses are down, the crew is fighting compartment to compartment to try and hold the Humans back while they try and fix the interstellar emergency be-can. But the Humans destroyed the array in the first strike, and as soon as they breached the hull the made their way to command deck and executed all the officers there, by cutting their heads off, so the entire crew could see over vid screen. They then seized engineering and crashed the ship on purpose. There are Humans all over the ship. Those that are not fighting and killing the crew are stealing everything they can get their hands on. I am hiding in a escape pod , watching the monitor screens, Lt. Blaagk last living officer of Earth Invasion Fleet.	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The expansion into the Sol system was supposed to be the latest iteration in a pattern I had repeated dozens of times across my career. for civilisations falling just below type I, we would initiate first contact, and demand vassalisation. seventy five percent of all civilisations we encountered stopped at this step, in face of our overwhelming technological superiority it was the logical choice. The remaining twenty five mounted a quick but often bloodless defence, followed by an honorable surrender and assecsion to the empire. The humans of Earth returned our ambassador flayed and mutilated. The humans, who up until our arrival had been at each other's throats owing to petty tribalism and coveting each other's natural resources united virtually overnight against us. Nearly every object they produced was hastily retooled into a weapon of war. When we expended their supply of military atmospheric craft, they turned to crashing civillian transports laden with chemical explosives into our installations. The closer we came to defeating them, the more brutal they became. They hurled chemicals of crude noxious gasses at our soldiers, scorching their repsiratory organs. Platoons of soldiers that surrendered en-masse turned out to be infected with a genetically engineered plague tailored for our biology. Children approached our armored columns, seemingly out of curiosity, which we had seen before. Except these children had explosive vests hidden under their coats, remote triggered by a vengeful parent hiding in rubble nearby. We had been begrudgingly compared to "Romans" by more cooperative humans, refering to an ancient power that while imperialist, maintained a strong sense of professionalism and discipline. Yet in the face of such a brutal enemy, the discipline our combat units, trained for dozens of human years and battlehardened from dozens more of interplanetary campaigns began to break down. Twitchy commanders, suffering from a mental illness we had never seen, yet humans easily diagnosed as "post traumatic stress syndrome" soon gunned down approaching humans on sight, and prisoners were seldom taken. All this only had the effect of intensifying humanity's burning hatred for our empire. What should have taken less than half of their years instead took a decade, and four armies worth of reinforcements. Finally, we had reduced their regular militaries to haggard fanatics hiding in subterranean bunkers across the planet. Yet just before we breached the final bunker containing their leadership, and remaining military infrastructure, the leadership activated a network of missiles containing fusion warheads, hidden in previously unencountered submersible vehicles scattered across their oceans. If we couldn't have earth, nobody could. These missiles were not powerful enough to even make orbit around their planet, much less strike our staging bases on their moon. This told us that the humans had built such a destructive weapons system not for use on us, but on each other. The results of the campaign had a traumatic effect not only on our soldiers, but the entire empire. The value of earth was it's breathable atmosphere, a perfect target for colonisation. Yet in the push of a button, humans made a decade of war, the deaths of hundreds of millions of our soldiers, and quintillions of credits meaningless. We evacuated and quarantined Earth, and the entire system was seen as effectively haunted. I never saw another human again after their species' self immolation. Yet I remain haunted by one thought: If even a dozen breeding pairs of humans were to survive and persist, then our civilisation is in mortal danger. Their children would grow up in caves with respirator masks permanantly affixed to their heads, hearing tales of burning hatred, consecrating themselves as avatars of vengence before they could read. Even if it took a thousand years, they would crawl groaning and screaming out of the ashes until they could stand, and they would not sit until vengence for our crimes against their ancestors had been extracted ten times over.	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The great Kreen empire had ruled for millennia, ever expanding with trillions of souls on thousands of worlds all toiling away for the benefit of the Dai'Kreen, the God Kings who ruled with an iron fist. The Kreen first learned of the humans through rumors of encounters on the outer fringes of the empire. Stories of underwhelming ships approaching Kreen vessels, attempting to hail them with declarations of peace and desire for trade. The humans knew not of the ways of the Kreen, the Kreen have no need for trade, they take what they desire, nor do they care for peace, the only peace is subjugation under the Dai'Kreen. Conflict began gradually, the negotiations of the humans, begging for peace, groveling for the mercy of the Dai'Kreen to "spare innocent lives" but the Kreen cared not for the wishes of lesser beings. The Dai'Kreen were destined to own the galaxy and any within it belonged to the empire, the Kreen would enlighten the humans of this truth. The Dai'Kreen gave the humans one last warning. "Hundreds of races have faced the might of the Kreen empire and all have fallen. Those who willingly embraced the empire were accepted with open arms. Prepare your world's for Kreen rule, yield to the empire and we will be lenient. Resist and face decimation." The human's reply was slow coming, but brief. "So be it." The Dai'Kreen struck first. The skies of a dozen human worlds were shattered at once as rift gates opened high above them. Relativistic darts, rods of ultra high density material accelerated to near the speed of light, tore through the rifts and impacted the human worlds with phenomenal force. Planets broke, billions died in an instant. The Kreen expected humanity to fold in the face of such horror, but the Dai'Kreen did not know humans. They did not know that every major scientific advancement in human history had been a a direct result of conflict. They didn't know that humanity had unlocked the power of the atom all in an attempt to more efficiently kill their own kind. The Kreen did not know that humanity had pushed itself to the brink of extinction on multiple occasions because of precisely how effecient they were at warfare. The Dai'Kreen did not know they were not the first empire to make this grave mistake in judgement. Billions of humans died in the initial salvo but the Kreen were unaware of the psychological effect that would have on humanity. The Kreen expected the humans to see the destruction caused and be awestruck by its majesty, paralyzed in the face of annihilation. They were not aware of the single most unique trait of the humans. Tenacity. When the humans broke the seals on the Armory Wolrds that housed their hidden armadas, hundreds of planet sized hangars released hundreds of thousands of warships all with the sole purpose of avenging the lives lost in the Kreen's techerous opening attack. Human fleets pushed deep into the core of the Kreen empire, world after world systematically pacified or liberated by the sheer overwhelming capacity for violence the humans possessed. The humans pushed the Dai'Kreen back to their ancient seats of power, the Throne Worlds of their home system. Here the remaining Dai'Kreen in a desperate attempt at reconciliation begged the humans for mercy. "Surely there is a way that both our great races can thrive? None could withstand the might of our great empires, together the Kreen and humanity could rule the galaxy unapposed." The encroaching human fleet did not initially respond, but they briefly held their fire. Seeing a potential the Dai'Kreen hailed them once more. "We hoped reason would prevail, we know now what a grave mistake we made refusing your attempts at peace -" The human's leader abruptly cut into the Dai'Kreen broadcast. "No, I don't think you realize just how big a mistake you made, but you will. You fucked around, now find out." Suddenly the Kreen sensors were blinded by thousands of simultaneous bursts of Gama radiation as the human ships tore open space time and jumped away from the Throne Worlds. Moments later another far brighter flash of light engulfed the Throne Worlds. The super weapon deployed by the humans during the lull in fighting had accomplished its goal, the sun at the center of the Throne Worlds went nova incinerating the Dai'Kreen and any left loyal to their rule. Humanity reshackled its weapons of war, returned to its ways of peace and continued to explore the cosmos under a white flag. Not because they feared for their own survival, but for the survival of anyone else.	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	As the fleet began final approach to the human’s home system, I can’t help but to think how the finale of decades of war originally started. The specie’s sin, as countless others have been, was intruding on our space. The Imperium cared nothing for reckless exploration and expansion, finding a safe path through the wilds of interstellar space was too dangerous for such reckless risks. But, if a xenos species was to stumble into our territory, it was nothing to follow their path back to a habitual world. In these eventualities, the High Council would raise an conquest force, drawn from all worlds, and continued to do so until all trace of the race was erased from existence. Then, and only then, would the conquerors be disbanded and settled on those worlds they had taken. The first encounter with the humans had proven them unsuitable to existence. Any animal will fight to protect itself, but the first of their species taken claimed that they have moved past such things. A laughable concept and they were the first of the vermin exterminated. Like every other time in the ages past, a fleet was being assembled. But, before it could be launched, another human vessel violated our space. Those on board claimed they were envoys of peace and only wanted to find a way to coexist with us. No reply was sent except the ion trails of our weapons penetrating their ship’s hull. The first worlds fell easily. They had defenses, true, even warships in orbit, but chronological scans showed the youngest was built a hundred years ago. As the fleet pushed deeper in their territory, the gravitational residue of their warp drives making easily followed paths through space, the worlds became harder to defeat. The warships remained old, the only recent construction found in the orbital shipyards were passenger ships, constructed in an attempt to evacuate the populations. Most of the time the only sightings of these ships was their engines pushing them into recently opened warp portals as they fled. The remaining ships and population fighting to the last in defense of their worlds. It was strange, though. Even though the warships kept getting older the further we went, their offensive capabilities improved with each engagement. What began as antiquated atomic weapons with chemical propulsion evolved to rail weapons launching high density loads at .99c. After years, we began to fight in engagements with ships wielding weapons that broke down the molecular bonds of their targets and finally canons that created artificial singularities that could destroy entire ships, crushing them to a infinitesimal mass in a single shot. It mattered not, because with an entire Empire constantly supplying new warships and warriors, the numbers would win out in the end no matter how they slowed us. Finally, only one system remained. From the intelligence gathered over the course of the long and brutal war, we knew their home system was fairly average. A main-type star, four rocky planets, four gas giants with large lunar systems, an asteroid belt, and several score of various sized planetoids. Most of the system was settled, and the humans were sure to fight harder here than anywhere else. Reinforced by every refugee ship that had been driven before us for all this time. The fleet exited our warp gates in the midsts of the system, where our stellar cartographers said their home planet would be, our engines cycling down for their recharge period. It was a devastating force of over 15,000 ships ready to overwhelm the planet in a single blow. The only thing there was a satellite orbiting the distant sun. There was nothing else in the system. No planets. No asteroids. The only thing our scanners could find were traces of dust and gas where our computers said planets should be in their stable orbits. I turned to my console as a communication signal was picked up from the satellite. It was a message on repeat that made my blood freeze in my veins as I realized just what kind of enemy we had so underestimated for so long. “Since the moment our species met, we have asked you for peaceful coexistence and you have responded with genocide. Every time your fleets appeared above one of our worlds, we would repeat our plea and you would ignored it. We hoped that if we would go far enough away, you would leave us be, but we learned that you would not stop. We knew we could not defeat you with the resources that we had used to expand our race to the starts. That it would take all that we had to end your aggression. What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done. Your stated purpose was to eliminate our race and take what was ours for your own. We will attempt the same and only one will remain when the last enemy falls.” As sensor readings began pouring in, the computer being overwhelmed as the numbers of reactors coming online rose over one million. The largest of the enemy ships, ten times larger than my flagship, and outnumbering it at least 25,000 to 1. Other ships classes were intermixed, including the ships that our forces would see leaving the worlds they arrived to conquer, but each and every ship scanned showed a single common trait: they were all younger than the age of the crusade. Every ship in the armada had been built since our first encounter. As the human ships warp gates began opening all throughout the system’s halo, one more sensor reading caught my attention. The sun at the center of the system was actively losing stability and was going nova. Our ships were to recently out of warp space and those engines wouldn’t be able to recharge in time to escape. The human’s message was still playing in the background and I realized, “What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done,” they meant everything. They were forcing their star to explode to destroy our fleet and were going to retrace our path before spilling into the Empire. I didn’t know if the combined might of our planets could stand against this, but as the distant star began to explode and my subordinates screamed at me for orders, I found I couldn’t bring myself to care.	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	It was at the Preserve Peace Committee meeting that the Radant ambassador rose - standing his full eight feet in height - and Cast the Dorples. The handful of obsidian shards released from his hands assumed the position "Rapid Change - High Energy". Some attendees sitting at the table looked around to see how other species had reacted, but most simply looked down, their postures indicating "Inevitable Sorrow". The poor Humans, so helpful. So helpless. The Radants were warlike, and had accrued their empire by conquest. The Humans were inquisitive, charming, and had built their empire through exploration, and a willingness to work hard to make even sub-par systems viable. The rich empire they now commanded was alas, ripe for the taking by the ever-hungry Radants. The Human ambassador looked carefully at the Dorples, and with one finger, gently nudged one until the bundle of shards shifted into "Contrition, Regret". The Radant barked in contempt. "No placating words will work this time Human, your diplomacy will avail you nothing." The Human ambassador sighed, and assumed the posture "Attend, I Explain". She spoke very softly, so that the other diplomats had to lean in close to hear her words. "Diplomacy does work. And I want to be very clear. When you ask for mercy, we shall hear your plea." The Radant simply glared in response. The Human shifted her posture to "Polite Regret, Imminent Departure". "Please excuse me, I must leave and help my species prepare". She then lifted the shards and Cast the Dorples anew, and then abruptly left. The shards fell into an unfamiliar pattern, that caused some consternation. Those with the subtlety to read the Dorples saw "Total War". What did that mean? Was it one of those idioms that Humans were so fond of? In any case, that was the last time any attendees saw the Human Ambassador Helen Cochrane. When next they saw her, she was General Cochrane, 15th Fleet, Commanding. Her armada consisted of some thirteen hundred Avenger class battle cruisers, a hundred thousand Katana class fighters, and fifty thousand other support vessels, repair ships, mining rigs, and so on. The 15th Fleet was one of over two hundred such fleets, and they had - after many initial setbacks - proved to be the equals of the Radants in battle, and subsequently their masters. The early Radant successes had been against almost unarmed Human vessels, ill-suited to combat, easily beaten. Yet the Humans had flown them anyway, and fought in them. With great sacrifice, they had slowed the Radant invasion just a little. But that was just enough for their newly built shipyards to come on line, and then the Radants had to face the Humans in their newly designed Defender class battle cruisers. This had stopped the Radant invasion entirely. And as the Radant forces waited for reinforcements from home, the Humans had developed their Avenger class ships. And produced them in prodigious numbers. Armed with weapons no one had seen before, of unknown potential, and seemingly invulnerable to Radant Annihilator beams, these new Avenger vessels had swiftly turned the tide of the war. Most of the much-vaunted Radant had been destroyed in a single blow at the Battle of Centauri Reach. The Humans had destroyed Radant outposts, military garrisons, indeed the entire infrastructure of the Radant war machine. So much destruction inspired awe, and in many quarters fear. No one could stand against the Humans, if they chose to make war, so great was their might. Yet in each system, they siphoned off part of their forces to help the Radants rebuild. Most of the Human forces were now scattered throughout Radant space, rebuilding space ports and solar harvesters, helping ordinary Radants rebuild their lives. And now the Humans were on Radant itself, meeting a peace delegation. General Cochrane approached the table where the Radant delegates sat. She took a velvet pouch from her pocket, and withdrew the shards within, and with great precision, she Cast the Dorples. They clattered on the table and assumed "Tempest, Destruction". One of the Radants gingerly reached out, and nudged a shard. The small pile shifted, and assumed "Desperation, Repentance". Cochrane paused and with a single tap, the shards now read "Watchful Benevolence". "War is a crime, and the ones who forced it upon us will pay, and justice shall be their lot. But let us turn our thoughts to peace, now." The Radants eagerly accepted the terms offered, and after a few years of Human rule, had once again become self-governing. The human fleet still existed, but had been de-militarised, and now most of it was in civilian hands, used as transport vessels, mining rigs, energy harvesters, and what have you. Did you know that you can still get surplus Human Katana fighters? They make great gas giant skimmers at a cost that is hard to beat. I think I know now what "Total War" means.	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We knew humans were weak. We knew they were kind. We knew they avoided every conflict through negotiation and diplomacy. We knew humanity had not wage war in over a thousand years. We knew humanity was one of the oldest civilization's, and yet, had the weakest army. We did not know their history. We did not know of the thousands lost at the hands of their own kin. We did not know the humans had learned what the universe was only just discovering. We learned. The Yuka's were a violent species. War was in their blood, and their rejoice in spilling their enemies. The union had keep them away from most inhabitated planets for centuries. And then...And then the Yuka's thought they had founded the weak link. They attack Earth. Earth was not ready. Earth burned (billions died. The oceans and forest humans had so painstakingly reconstruct from their ancestor's sins turned to ashes) (I have not heard a scream with such pain from my human friend before. I could do nothing but watch as she fell to her knees. I pitied her.) Humans were brought close to extinction, with only those in the colonies surviving. We were willing, of course, to take every refuge; they were, after all, a peaceful species, they couldn't possibly defend themselves. None came. They took what little ships they still had. They brought their children to the union, and declared war. None of them smiled. We thought it was suicide. We were right. The Yoka's had signed their death warrant. Humanity, they discovered, was not kind. Humans, they learned, had war in the souls (for how else can you explain the grieving mother that took down a warship by herself. The lone soldier that decimated three planet colonies. The army that had raised from the ashes of their pain). When the Yoka's had only their original planet left, they plead for mercy. They plead for their children. They beg for diplomacy. And, like Earth, they burned. ( "There's no one left" I didn't say, when I saw my friend again. "You killed thousands" I didn't scream, when she smiled at me. "You are a monster" I didn't murmur, when I look into her eyes (she knew) "What now?" I ask, instead. She leaned against me, looking at the stars. I try to ignore the knowledge of the amount of blood in those thin arms. "We build up again." She smiled. "We, humans, are good at that". )	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Torus took his seat at the table, one of 11 identical seats. As he glanced around the circle, his upper mouth twisted into a frown. Typically, the ten representatives of the Federation took joy in subtly outdoing one another at their meetings. This human insistance on identical seats set at a round table was perplexing. The way of the Federation was simple. Ten species ruled coequally. Other species joined as clients. To join, they accepted the extermination of two thirds of their species. The remainder took their rightful place in breeding programs, coupled with overhaul of industry and agriculture. This ensured the continued prosperity of the Federation. Occasionally, some future clients proved troublesome. For them, the Federation had the Ru'a. Kronan scientists discovered the Ru'a early on. A primitive species, but perfect for genetic modification. Now, all Ru'a we're clones. There were no females. Missing proteins in their cells ensured they depended on the Federation for survival. When needed, entire armies could be grown. When the Federation was finished with them, they thrown away. Few Ru'a survived past the age of 5. Torus looked up, gratefully, at his Ru'a guards. The humans had no idea what was coming for them. A door on the other side of the chamber opened and the human diplomat seated himself at the table. These diplomats - the humans thought they could talk their way out of their fate. Some suspected they even thought to secure full representation for themselves. Ridiculous! The human spoke, "We have reviewed the terms of Federation membership and, I apologize, but we do not find them acceptable. While your Federation is certainly a powerful force, we would prefer to take things a little slower. I am sure that, one day, we may sit together as friends, but for now, perhaps we should focus on building some preliminary trade agreements. There are many possibilities -" The human was interrupted by a fist banging on the table. Kruathanan, of the Ghorsh, never took kindly to resistance. "Silence, human," he hissed, "You talk and you talk. You wear your diplomacy like a cloak of protection, thinking it will keep you safe. Nothing can save you." The human stared at Ghorsh. At first, Torus thought he was frightened. After a few moments, he checked his timepiece and it became clear that he was merely thinking. Again, he spoke, "You are all so mighty. Nothing can match you for speed or strength. Your lives are counted in centuries. We humans are different. Like your Ru'a, every day is a struggle to survive. Our lives are short. Death stands over us, every moment of every day." "When Death stands over you, you can do one of three things. You can fight it, which is ultimately-" "-futile." Torus turned to his guard in surprise. All of the Ru'a seemed to have become oddly intent. There was an edge to them that Torus had never seen before. The human didn't seem surprised at all. "Exactly, thank you. The second choice is to run from it. We had a poet who once wrote, because I would not stop for Death, Death kindly stopped for me. You cannot outrun Death." The Ru'a all chuckled. Torus didn't know they even had a sense of humor. "The third option is to make Death your friend and companion. To learn from Death. To allow Death to make you wise. We have learned much. Patience. Forgiveness." He turned to look, again, at Ghorsh. "You think we engage in diplomacy, to wear this cloak, to protect ourselves? No, we wear it to protect you. In times of trouble. Kronans can turn to their intellect. Kruathanan can turn to their strength." He nodded at Torus, "The Tun can rely on their cunning. We humans have only Death. We can be your friend, or we can kill you all. I'm afraid there is no middle ground." He glanced at his timepiece. "I'm sorry, this is taking longer than I thought. We will not mire ourselves in generations of war, and we most certainly will not accede to your demands. If you will not be our friends, then know that Death is coming." He nodded towards the Ru'a. "These brave men are like us. They live with Death. But unlike them, we have not been made small by false gods. You sit with us at this table because you think you have taken the measure of our resistance. This is merely the beginning." Ghorsh, fool that he was, began bellowing all of the things he planned to do to the human diplomat. There were threats about eating his heart while he still lived. Something about burning the diplomats family alive. The diplomat looked... bored. During a pause for breath the diplomat interjected, "You think I made an empty threat. Make no mistake, Death is coming for you. Every one of you has a weakness. The Kruathanan atmosphere, for instance, is very fickle. It doesn't take much to turn it against you." He checked his timepiece again. "Approximately 3 minutes ago, a Terran raiding vessel was likely destroyed by your planetary defenses. Before destruction it released a compound into your atmosphere. By now, your sky is beginning to darken. In a few hours, your people will have suffocated." The color drained from Ghorsh's face. He began to rise from the table, but a sharp crack sent him slumping to the floor, tail twitching. One of his Ru'a guards had broken his neck. The other representatives were, likewise, dispatched. Torus found himself awash in pain as his head hit the table. The guard had snapped his first and second neck, but missed the third. He could only watch in agony as the Ru'a pledged themselves to the humans and watch in disbelief as the humans pledged to find a way to free the Ru'a from their enslavement. He listened to them as they planned their conquest, to free all the client worlds of the Federation and reforge it anew. One of the Ru'a noticed him watching. The last thing Torus heard was the snapping of his third neck.	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Admiral. A title relegated to the best of Naval Officers, a true leader. Farragut. Porter. Dewey. Fletcher. King. Nimitz. Kinkaid. Halsey. Spruance. Burke. The greatest Navy men in the United States, or so I have been told. In the Navy, it is one of the highest ranks one can attain. To be an Admiral is a great honor. So why do I not feel honored to take this position? Of course, I know why. I am in no way the intended person for this role. A traitor to my homeland, a deserter of my Legion, a guerrilla naval specialist, a "Tin Can Captain". And most importantly, a Krai-toln. The very ruling race of the Empire that Humanity is set on fighting. I know I have earned my title. My list of awards given by the Navy is long and impressive; the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroic Actions at the Battle of Mars, two Purple Hearts, one for the Battle of Sirius and one for Operation 'Achy Breaky Heart', the Navy Cross, the E. E. Evans 'Last Stand' Award for Actions at the Battle of Bernard's Star, and many more lesser awards. I know I do not belong here - yet, everyone says I do. Humans are the nicest, yet most terrifying race I have ever met. The closest phrase I can think of to describe Humanity is "Dignified Indignity", and that goes for their warfare, too. Where the Krai-toln uses lasers and electromagnetic pulses, the Humans use ballistics and atom-splitters. It is a totally indignant form of warfare, yet, under a orderly, calm mask of dignity. Yet, there is one form of warfare where Humanity is completely and utterly dignified, and would not dare stray into indignity: diplomacy. I have read of situations, misunderstandings, that back in the Empire would've been a declaration of War. Yet, as the young man tasked with bringing me 'up to speed' with history said, "cooler heads prevailed." I will say, there are no 'cooler heads' in the Kraii Empire. It is a nation of pure war, built to do nothing but destroy and assimilate. As much as I hate to say it, the Krai-toln people are much the same, told by their dictators what to think, what to say, and who to fight to gain "glory and power". I did not even know about the death statistics for Kraii Legionaries until I fled to the side of the Humans, into the arms of the US Navy, where they documented every kill and mourned every loss; a completely unheard of tradition in the Kraii Empire, at least under the current regime. 78.62% of all Kraii Legionaries sent into battle do not come back alive. Of that 21.38%, another \~20% are killed upon return to their commanding officers, being deemed either too damaged to be useful to the War Effort or being a failure to the Kraii Nation for having fled battle, even if that battle was already over. The 1-or-so percentage left alive are commanding officers, sons of rulers or commanding officers, or those rich enough to purchase the ability to fight another day. It is clear to me that a total war to Humans is a completely different thing to a Kraii "Always War". A human total war is a complete mobilization of a nation to defeat an enemy, temporarily expanding the armed forces to a massive extent with those willing to fight against those who have wronged the homeland they love. It is a last step along a path of diplomacy, a final option if all else fails. A Kraii "Always War" - the "Ker-to-wesyllison" - is a permanent state. All citizens must fight, make goods for the fight, or command the fight. Those who cannot are exterminated. There is no place for diplomacy, no place for peace, no place for health, only fighting and dying. It is really no wonder, then, that the Humans are the ones winning the war. Should a Human return from a battle injured, he is not killed, nor is he a failure. He is a hero, and is treated as such. What with the Kraii would be a practice only reserved for those at the very top of the command chain is common place with the Humans. It is amazing; for all my time in the Kraii Legions, I never once saw a medic. Here, it seems there is one around every corner, seeking people to help. A profession built on sympathy. And that is what separates Humanity from the Kraii Empire: Sympathy. One cannot heal, negotiate, learn from, or otherwise treat another being as an equal without some degree of sympathy. It seems to be a trait ingrained in humans, a natural response to any interaction, good or bad. It is even seen as a mental illness to not have any sympathy for other beings. This is far removed from the Kraii of today. I suspect we used to have ingrained sympathy; landmarks such as the Monument to Unity in the very heart of the capitol of the Empire attest to a much more Human-like past. However, any sign of this in today's Krai-toln soldiers is sadly uncommon. It is still there, shining to the surface in some occasions, even leading to defections such as mine. For most Krai-toln, though, sympathy is missing, bred out by their leaders to create a race of near-perfect warriors. Their near-perfect warriors are faltering. A human shot by a Krai-toln will most likely be healed and back in action within the month; a Krai-toln shot by a human and not rescued by humans will be most surely dead, left to die by the very government he fights for. Destroyed human supplies will be replaced by the end of the day by the hard-working men and women giving their all in the factories; destroyed Kraii supplies are only replaced when living workers can be found, the workers who made the previous supplies having already been killed for some minor mistake their government found intolerable. We will win this Total War, because for Humanity, and for it's allies, for those who believe in freedom, liberty, and individuality, war is temporary. Mistakes are forgivable. Sympathy is given to those who need it. And that is why, today, I stand here and accept the role of Admiral in the United States Navy. Not because it is what I deserve. Not because it is what my commanders declare. No, I accept this role because I truly believe in the ways of humanity, of sympathy, of diplomacy before war, of temporary war. I have seen what a total destruction of sympathy and diplomacy can do. I have seen the results of an "Always War". And I never wish to witness it again, and I shall do my best with the power I have been given to make sure an "Always War" is never allowed to occur again. I encourage all of you to do the same. -Admiral Jrell Vohanne Kelard-Synn, United States Navy "The Grand Acceptance Speech" - Given Aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, Docked at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, November 11, 2089 (Still an amateur at this - give constructive criticism, please! I am looking for all ways to improve!)	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	An excerpt from Species Relations Within The Tri-Galactic Sector, Kirkkolan F. [Hawkens Joseph trans.], G.I. 1445, Grand Triumvirate Library. #14. Newcomers ##III. Humanity While we might discuss at length the effect Tri-Galactic (relative) newcomers might have on inter-species relations, none is more deserving or paradigm-destroying as the self described Homo Sapiens, A.K.A Humanity. While the humans have only been apart of the Galactic Triumvirate for 400 intervals (the reader might recall that Spacrals had introduced themselves 3500 intervals ago, a difference of nearly a full power of ten), they have clearly made the largest impact seen in this ‘new expansion’ era, bringing peace to both lesser and greater species, and attaining a representative seat on the Grand Council in record time. Throughout this book I have presented each species through the lens of their First Contact War, but amazingly I cannot continue this tradition for Humanity as they did not have an FCW. Despite the fact that they made First Contact with the infinitely irritable and belligerent Monglas resulting in a small skirmish, the humans have noted that they universally celebrated this interaction across their controlled sectors. Above all, humans are social creatures, to the point that they have essentially forced themselves into a universal peace, lest they be unable to act socially with any of their own. However, this lead to a collective loneliness within their species, as they had yet to discover any trace of alien life. When I was conversing with an “anthropologist” (in short, a human occupation dedicated to studying their own distinct cultures), they described to me that the human race as a whole was experiencing a lack of social excitement as their own society had homogenized to the point where they felt an extreme lack of discovery. Their word for this is as strange as it is difficult to pronounce (for many of us without flexible mouths at least): “ennui”. This feeling of ennui became so strong that the goal of First Contact became an almost religious belief in their society, the one thing that would save them from ultimate stagnation. When humanity fought against the Monglas, they did not despair at faltering in the face of a technologically superior fleet, nor mourned the deaths of their comrades, but rather cheered that they no longer had to face the void of space alone. This led them to disrupting the Monglas’ usual singleminded violence as they translated and began communicating with the alien fleet in record time. While the Monglas fleet could not be described as ‘peaceful’ in this moment, they were so confused by the human reaction that they decided to simply retreat. The remainder of Humanity’s history in the GT will only slightly differ as, more so than any other species, they unilaterally push for peace and friendship for all. The reader might scoff at such a naïve goal for a species, but one only needs to spend a single evening with a human to understand that they truly desire only companionship both as an individual, and as an entire distinct society of beings. Some might argue that humans are a flawed, simpering species because of this. I would agree, however I encourage the reader to view this as a benefit to our great Tri-Galactic Sector, as it is a wholly unique culture among us, and one that has prevented many conflicts across the intervals. As we progress through the rest of this section I intend to present….. _______ Continued in comment replies	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	"Mx. Ambassador, I really do urge you to reconsider this. Contact your government, there is still time." Niobe Gudrunsdottir leaned forward, her face serious. "You don't want this war." L'hish smilled, xis ingestion mouth drawing a flat line that extended the full height of xis face as xis vocal orifices intoned musically. "You are mistaken. My government has been preparing for this for some time. No more of your smug, conciliatory diplomacy, your continual words and meager trade considerations. Your worlds will be ours. Your people will serve us. This is inevitable now. This has been a long time coming. We have prepared for your response. You will not stop us." Xe leaned back, watching his counterpart tap into her datapad and knowing that the Ylnak battlecruisers would already be deep into Human territory, preparing to strike key military installations painstakingly mapped over the last several years. A fleet built up over decades, kept in secret even as the Humans were monitored at every turn. At this point the Human Republic was outgunned an estimated 3-to-1, and the initial strikes would cripple their military production capacity by 25%, with much of the remainder to fall in the following few weeks. It would be a quick, fatal blow. A short war, as the Ylnak preferred. The general populace had no real taste for long conflict even as removed as the core planets were from the multitude of small border skirmishes. The plan was to win almost before the citizenry knew there was a war happening, let it go on long enough to get a few heroes out in front of the holocams, and celebrate another expansion of the Hegemon. "All the pieces are in our chains, your Vion off the board. This is catch-caught." "I beg your pardon?" Niobe looked up from her datapad, her voice calm, distracted. "Ah, you are not familiar with the game of Krtil. You will need to learn it, but for now the closest for you might be..." Xe thought for a moment, grasping for the Human word. "Checkmate?" Niobe nodded with an intellectual frown, as if learning some small piece of trivia. She punched a few more buttons on her datapad then looked up at L'hish. "If that is truly the decision of your government, and I really do wish you would reconsider, but if it is..." "It is. This matter is settled. Good bye." L'hish made to stand. "Just a moment Mx. Ambassador, don't you want to hear our counter offer?" "More of your driveling words? Hear you beg? Does the predator care to hear the bleats of its dying prey? No." L'hish was off xis bench and was halfway towards towards the door. "Oh, but I think you will want to hear it." Something in the woman's voice caught in xis ears, an edge he had never heard before, and xe turned looking at the woman. Her face was an open smile, but her eyes... L'hish had spent years negotiating with Humans and her face.. unsettled xim. Her mouth and expression were neutral except... her eyes. Set against her dark skin, they were an icy blue that had somehow become colder, harder. He didn't know how to read this expression. Xe walked back and settled down, not breaking the lock of eyes for a second. "Speak." "You aren't very familiar with Human history, are you Mx. Ambassador?" "Familiar enough to know you think yourselves past war. A peaceful people. A pacified, tamed people." "Ahh, a common misconception. You see, I am a student of history, Mx. Ambassador, so much so I have one of my PhD's in it. I have read a lot of history and in fact my thesis was an analysis organized militaries versus guerilla and insurgent forces. Tell me, Mx. Ambassador, have you ever read about Vietnam? Or Ireland? Or Afghanistan?" "Your primitive states are of no interest to me." "That's a shame. You see, we Humans study history so that we can learn from it, learn from past mistakes. But why would you study those? The Hegemon has always been victorious, hasn't it?" "It has. Our forces have won in glorious conquest for a thousand years. None can stand against the might of our armadas." Niobe smiled. "Indeed. The only limit to your reach has been how fast you can reproduce and build ships. But let's digress from that. In normal warfare you are unmatched so far, I will concede that as it is self evident. But if you had bothered to read the history of Human warfare, you would have learned something. A very important lesson that you could have learned easily and cheaply, and will now have to be taught, at great cost." "What..." L'hish began, but Niobe put up a finger as her datapad chimed. Xis irritation grew further as she tapped a few controls then nodded as she received a confirmation chirp. She turned back to xim. "The lesson? before I get to that, Mx. Ambassador, can you verify something for me? The population of Kloson on Hirga II is about 10.5 million, yes?" Xe was caught off guard by the non-sequitur, but gathered xis thoughts and replied. "I believe so. I don't see what that has to do..." "Humor me just a moment longer. And Huls on Jedatha VI, roughly 8 million?" "Yes, but..." "Ulkor on Lish III, another 9 million. I believe you have family there... a sibling?" "Yes. What does this have to do with..." "With my thesis? Nothing. And everything. They also have everything to do with that lesson I mentioned. Especially since they now no longer exist." Niobe calmly tapped a few controls on her datapad and the holo in the middle of the room lit up. Spread across it were news feeds from the Hegemon, showing satellite images of the unmistakable star bursts of nuclear detonations intercut with footage from the surface showing rising mushroom clouds as cities incinerated. L'hish was speechless, xis face slack in horror, dumbfounded as xe tried to process what xe was seeing. Xe turned as Niobe spoke again, her voice taking on a pedagogical air. "And now, your promised lesson: We don't play fair; we fight dirty as hell, tooth and nail with every fiber of our being. We will sacrifice anything, destroy everything, accept mutual annihilation as victory, and would rather be extinct than subjugated. We have had these safeguards in place for years, ever since we determined that you more than likely would decide to try your military conquest on us one day. I really hoped we'd never have to use it." "But... those were civilians... innocents... how could you do somethings so... monstrous?" Niobe laughed, a cold hard laughter that rang from the walls, that chilled L'hish to xis cartilage. "That's the thing, Mx. Ambassador. We are monsters. We have tried not to be, but here we are. It was the conclusion of my thesis: Humanity is made of monsters, monsters that need better ways. That is why I am a diplomat, to try and keep us from being such if we don't have to be. And then the Hegemon had to go and press that great big 'do not push' button. Shame." L'hish's comm buzzed insistently. Niobe sipped her coffee, and selected a nibble from a plate. "You should take that. I imagine the Council of Princes have something urgent to say. Let me know if they need more lessons."	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	I am Azar Himolin , former general of the inter-systems fleet. If you are watching this you are either a future officer of what remains of our might, a diplomat in training, learning why your first lesson is about leaving humanity alone, or enough time has passed for some classified documents to be released to the public without heads rolling. sigh I am not proud of us, us Kutyln as a species, us of the military, and especially not us politicians. What I am about to tell you is how we, the strongest might in the galactic cluster, started a war of aggression against a weak species and miserably lost. The Elders are the longest standing space-faring civilization in the cluster, and when a species reaches the point of crossing the void between galaxies they will establish contact. We joined the cluster super civilization that way and so did humanity, they are, or maybe were, the most recent addition. During the first century we found out that humans as individuals are prone to anger and quite belligerent, especially in small groups, but as a species they abhorred war, always resorting to talks, bribes and other shame they called 'diplomacy'. Only maintaining a small standing army to respond to minor aggressions and protect their peace. So, we decided to invade, we could take over a galaxy worth of ressources and it was already explored, with communication and transport channels. The first few offensives went quite well, a handful of patrol crafts utterly useless in front of our battle groups. Humans still clinged to their peaceful ways, asking for cease fire and talks. One day, the council decided to humour them and we received their diplomatic mission. One man. They send one single man, and it was clear to us that he was no diplomat, a high ranking officer in full uniform, a rugged fellow, a former soldier that fought his way through multiple conflicts. Why would they send what we could only think of a a fellow warmonger as a diplomat ? I want you to see who he was. Another video starts to play, a camera feed from the Kutyln council room "I am Thomas Glint, Colonel of the Milky Way Ground Forces, I come here before you asking for peace, asking you to leave the systems you've taken from us and pay reparations, you violated numerous laws set by the Elders and are standing right before Humanity's bottom line. This is an ultimatum and an advice, cease this war, do not cross this line. Do not mistake kindness for weakness !" The camera feed pauses, the voice of the general sounding over it We did not take those words to heart, that was our first mistake, remember that last sentence well, because it was the crux of it all and it haunted me for years after we realized what we did. Our second mistake was believing in the pride of a high ranked military man, in our form of pride. The image goes back to the general The following part is still highly classified and frankly quite gruesome. That man, Colonel Thomas André Glint, taught us everything we needed to know about humanity but we realized to late. We continued to berate him, and were prepared to end it, no diplomat ever came back alive, he was not to be the first and he knew it. He had a chemical bomb implanted before coming and it was not found be the multiple security checkpoints he went through. That man didn't have the pride to stand above all lower ranks like our officers did, he had the pride to go as low as needed for his people. The blast outright killed two councilmen, severely injuries five, two of which would also die soon after and all of us suffered for years of the aftermath. We learnt a lot during the war, we had to face humanity in its entirety as th whole population supported the war effort and rallied behind figureheads and standard bearers, never to surrender. Everything came back to the colonel: we had mistaken their kindness, we cornered them and we created a martyr. We had stood before their bottom line, and had we just taken a step forward maybe we could have backpedalled at some point, but we didn't just cross that line, we launched ourselves as far over as we could have. I am ashamed, I am weary, but most importantly I am sorry, sorry towards the young Kutyln for being one of those that lost our heritage, sorry towards humanity for what I did. Sorry I did not understand what I was taught soon enough. Click (First time writing one of those, but for once the stories in my head wanted to come out. Any feedback and criticism welcome as I have difficulties stringing thought and thus paragraphs together and as English is not my native language.)	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	It squeezed its gun in its hand as it carefully poked its head around the corner of the pile of rubble that once was a building. Close to the ground, slowly, but not a split second longer than absolutely necessary as it had been taught. It was called Tel'moreen. It was a living Weapon, born to kill human living Weapons. Made to kill human soldiers. And currently, it was alone. The rest of its former unit hadn't been able to get out of the valley as the gas-bombs dropped. It had been at the front of the unit, surviving just barely long enough for its medi-suite to get it back on its feet. It considered the situation it was in. A city of its progenitors. A former city. Right now, it was just a bunch of rubble and the occasional two or three floors of a building still standing. Plenty of places for an enemy sniper. It had its orders though. When the lead of its unit was eliminated, it was to return to the nearest control point and be reassigned. The nearest point was on the other side of the former city. so there was no option. It had to make it to the other side. Tel'moreen took a breath, braced itself, and broke into a sprint. As it ran, it kept its head moving. The humans had been favouring spike traps, trip wires and all sorts of other ways to maim rather than kill from the very instant that the war had gone from following the intended path. It could understand the logic there. A soft race that worried about every unit like the humans would fight in a way that capitalized on that. Weigh the enemy down with injured units, slow the advance, buy time to turn every encounter into a butchery. Sensible. And, entirely unlike the humans. For Tel'moreen's kind, the logic didn't really apply. Damaged weapons were either repaired or, if that would take too long, abandoned. Still, the human traps were an endless frustration, thinning out units one Weapon at a time. Tel'moreen dived into cover, allowing itself a moment to breathe. It hadn't been shot, its legs hadn't been blown up by any improvised trap, the pain in its lungs wasn't slowing it down too much just yet. It could keep going, it would just need a moment for... 'maintenence.' Reaching to its hip, it pushed a button that made its medi-suite re-assess its status. ...no change, no additional painkillers to numb the burn. All it could do was to wait until the burning sensation in its chest died down. Time spent waiting was time wasted, but rushing would have been worse. So, it reflected on the battles it fought in. It reflected on the first breath it drew, roughly three Terran years ago. It repeated the lessons it had been taught. About how the humans had been undeserving of the place they held. About how they were soft and refused to fight, even in the face of an Enemy that by all rights, even they would have been able to crush. About how they keps insisting on "talking" instead of letting their Weapons enforce their supposed claims. Tel'moreen grit its teeth. Dart the head out for as little time as possible. Look for the obvious sniper nests. Note the next piece of cover. Note how all the bodies of the other Weapons all fell to the right. Sniper on the left. Circle around. Head out. Tel'moreen dived out of cover, ensuring to keep cover on its left, circling around the apparent kill-zone, just barely managing to cancel its run into a jump and a roll over a thin, nearly invisible wire leading into a pipe. Its first leader had had its legs blown off by a human-made 'hand grenade' hidden in a pipe just like that. Tel'moreen was a well-honed Weapon. It wouldn't blunt itself on the Enemy's weapon any more. It just barely managed to get into cover behind what had been a resitental block, but now didn't reach higher than two floors. Again, the burn from the gas attack was acting up. In the back of its mind, it wondered if it would be decommissioned once it reconnected with high command. The thought was dismissed quickly. Decomissioning was not a threat. Decomissioning was part of being a Weapon and a high honor. Still, Tel'moreen wouldn't be able to keep going for much longer, its lungs burning in its chest. It slumped against the wall, the big pile of rubble right across from it offering cover from... enough sides. It was a solitary target. Even the humans wouldn't waste effort on it, unless it happened to be a target of opportunity. It reflected on when the war had gone off-course. ...It had gone off-course very early on. Tel'moreen had been there, after all. The first attack on a "civilian" target, the opening salvo of the war. A clear-cut signal: "Yield. We will destroy your Weapons, regardless of how long it takes for them to become useful." It never made much sense to Tel'moreen how human Weapons started out as a distinct Caste. Its own species' system made sense: ensure that every member is born knowing what it should do, rather than letting something as fickle as "opinion" or "desire" decide what one's path in life would be. After all, that had been the entire idea behind the initial strike. If any human can "learn" to become a Weapon, but every human starts out with little to no idea what they want to be, kill them before they can decide. Sure, you end up killing everything from Builders to Parents to Leaders to Weapons, but that was the humans' problem. A Weapon is a Weapon from the first moment it draws breath. That is a fact. If a newly born Weapon cannot be distinguished from a newly born Leader, or a newly born Parent, then the only sensible course of action was to kill all "children." If anything, the humans' faillure to properly identify their ofsprings' life path left Tel'moreen with no better option. Kill the "children" before they could "decide" to become Weapons. Tel'moreen itself had proudly joined in a directed attack on the "school" itself. The humans should have expected an attack there, with that many "children" in one place. The burning in its lungs had subsided enough. It got up, ignoring the burn in its legs. Ignoring the moment in which its vision swam, ignoring all the little pains of trying to rush its way back to the command post. Another brief peek around the corner. ...Odd, no bodies between it and the entrance of the command post. The walls were battered but standing, the banners were up, the sentries were standing straight. A sniper spot just a few dozen paces back, and it didn't shoot the sentries? ...Irrelevant. Orders were orders. Tel'moreen took a deep, chest-burning breath, and broke into a sprint. It could feel its body strain under the effort, but it kept going. It felt felt its legs stumble, but it kept going. It felt a bullet just barely miss it (wait, barely? While it was running in a straight line?) but it kept going. It all but dove through the wide-open entrance of the command post, the rough road grinding against its chest until it came to a halt- with a human boot against its head. "And that's twenty. Told you it would be worth taking this shithole," the distinctly human voice spoke up while the foot pressed down harder, keeping it from so much as looking up. "Hold on, Peeler, this one's got one of thowe blue stripes! Like the rest of those shit-lickers from the first wave!" "Dang! Almost missed that... Eh, whatever." Tel'moreen's gun was ripped out of its hands before it could try and push itself into a fighting stance, while its arms were forced behind its back. It should have been able to fight back, to push back but the damage from that gas-attack just days prior was sapping its strength, leaving it forced to its knees. Humans. Not even human Weapons, lacking the distinctive equipment marking human Weapons. Just some assortment of non-Weapons, several of which were holding various guns and other Weapon-equipment with the trained ease of a Weapon. "So!" spoke one of them. Tel'moreen was observant, and decided that this must have been the 'Peeler' the other Human mentioned, "Blue stripe, huh?" "...Yes. I have been awarded with a blue stripe as a member of the leading charge," Tel'moreen confirmed. Denying it would have gone against its teachings. "OK. You get one chance," 'Peeler' said while several of the other human non-Weapons made some low-volume noise with the guns they held. A kind of clicking noise. "Were you involved in the strike against Elysium Elementary School?" "Yes, that was where I earned my blue stripe." Several of the non-Weapons made noises, but it did not matter. They were not Weapons. They couldn't harm a Weapon. "Honest to a fault then. Last chance, then. Why did you do it?" 'Peeler' speaks up. "I had my orders," was the last thing Tel'moreen managed to say, before the non-Weapons opened fire.	"To think those simians would have enough political leverage for such demands" - The capital ships of both warring species faced in sandspace, a particularly empty region of the galaxy where war ultimatums would go to be resolved. The lack of large masses and their gravity fields meant all wreckage of ancient and recent battles alike, floated directionless, reflecting the light of distant stars, like white crystals on a beach. "As law demands, our government and its leader stand present, as do our finest warriors who soon shall decide the fate of our species" - The human captain opens dialogue. Traditionally, it is the side that offers the ultimatum that initiates conversations, allowing for heckling from the opposing side, effectively acting as foreplay for final war. "You hairy mongrels are little disconnected from your tribals ways. Your guerrilla war was dishonourable albeit annoying, but now you prove yourselves ignorantly incompetent, you wish for peace so fervently you'd throw away any chance of victory. DEPLOY THE FLEET" - Tens of thousands of glistening ships occupied the space between the capital monstrosities, like ants from a tree. Some humans in the ship shuddered at the sight of the fighters, many had memories of a single enemy fighter handling a full airport at the colonies. To them, humans were peasants, no culture of war, instead choosing philosophy and theology instead of training and bellic enhancement - "Your pursuit for diplomacy is a façade for your weakness, present your warriors, let us end this" The human capital ship hummed and oppened all ports. After an uncanny delay the fighters exited and clumped together in front of the flagship. "srepolretni uoy evigrof ew" - The Captains ghostly voice echoes in an empathetic tone. The communication channel had been left open, leaving the aliens to hear humans chanting gibberish. The rhythm of their voices blends with the vibrations of the capital ship, clearly increasing power output. "Using your soldiers to shield a retreat? And what makes you think you're in a position to forgive... how deep must the peaceful ways run in your genome. Even forfeiting common tongue to buy yourselves time. Pitiful" - The alien fighters dart out intent on stopping the escaping ship. Precise and fatal strikes are intercepted by the massive wall of human vessels. The fighters manage to punch holes in the fuselage when all the flagships' ports light up simultaneously, time warps, and space contracts. The capital ships collide with deafening force, blasting all matter in sandspace out of existence. The Captain opens the comms and speaks. On Earth, the broadcast of the ultimatum shows the ships and matter spawning backwards out of a supernova and blip into nothing. The final message is heard from the aliens to which the anchor replies: "No, we CHOOSE peace".
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	Insects. That was what the Grand One always called the human race. He had called them weak, cowardly beings with no strength to speak of- to an extent that was true. Their physical bodies lacked any meaningful power, and it was almost nothing in comparison to the mighty bodies of the Sidernia people. But they were by no means cowards, and they were by no means weak. Their technology more than made up for their lack of physical prowess, and their hearts were just as brave as their minds were smart. It was astounding. The humans had always avoided war before. They were excellent diplomats and were adept at reaching agreements with others, normally to minimal loss for themselves. They would normally abstain from any wars that were fought as well, lending only technological and humanitarian aid. The Grand One had taken this as a sign of weakness. He had convinced the whole Sidernian people this as well. He had convinced them to wage war on the human worlds. He had made a grave mistake. Initially the Conquest went well. A quick and powerful assault on many of the border worlds lead to massive leaps into the human territories. The Sidernian militaries power and ferocity drew swaths of death on the human systems serene canvas. But then the war began to stall. In barely three months into the war, the human worlds began fighting much harder, digging their heels into the ground and forcing every Sidernian step to be fought for. Nine months in, and full force battles were being waged once again, with human military efforts beginning to turn back Sidernian offense. A year in, the human races main blockade fell, and Sidernian forced began to surge into the system center- and were slaughtered. A message was broadcast through every frequency in the universe, sent from the human birth-world of Earth. "There are three things all wise beings fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man. Congratulations Sidernian people, you have provoked the wrath of the gentle human race. We attempted to end things with peace. We tried to reason with you. Then it became evident words will not work. You have now invoked our wrath Sidernians, and I am sorry that you did." The video cut to the scene of a massive ship graveyard. Thousands of ships, all with the Sidernian seal and make, floated in open space, many torn asunder, other blasted to bits. "This is your final warning to withdraw from human space Sidernian Grand One, or this trail of destruction will follow you deep into your own lands. You have been warned." The transmission ended there, but the Sidernians war did not. A month later, hundreds of thousands of human ships appeared in the war zone, each ship manned by thousands upon thousands of humans. Each and every ship was outfitted with powerful weaponry and state of the art shields, and their soldiers outfitted with anything from a state of the art plasma rifle to a basic pea-shooter. A matter of months later, the Sidernian Empire fell. A combination of overwhelming force from the human race and infighting from the Sidernian people lead the entire system into destruction. As the universe looked on in awe, the human nation declared the war over, claiming half of the Sidernian Empire and reaffirming the respect the universe had for the human race. The whole universe learned that indeed, the wrath of the gentle man was one thing that should always be truly feared.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	From the chornicles of the last days of Etheria, Author unknown: We are not going to win this war. Nobody could win this. We have to end it, to surrender, to run, to do something but we can not win. At first everything was going fine for us. We were winning battles, every battle. Nothing they did could stop us. And in our victories we became cruel and evil. We really left them no choice. What else could they have done? Wait for their extinction? Desperate times lead to desperate measures and we made them so very desperate. The first stories started to be whispered in the third year of the war. I thought it were ghost stories. We were, at most, one year away from completely wiping them from the face of the galaxy. Of course they would try to spread propaganda to make us slow down. That was, until I saw it myself. It wasn't all of them. Maybe 1 in 5000. Maybe less, maybe more. But those few, they had done something to them. They wouldn't die anymore. I shot him. I know I shot him. Square in the center of the chest. And he fell. I saw the blood on the ground but then he got back up. He just got back up and kept coming. And I shot him again. And he got back up. In the end, he got hit by an explosion. With enough damage they don't come back. But he killed dozens of ours before. I am sure they feel the pain. I heard them scream as they are hit and when we managed to capture one and experiment on him he even cried. They feel the pain but they don't slow down and they do not stop...and they learn. What type of species does that to themselves? What type of species turns themselves into monsters? And what type of people will keep running head on into death over and over again? We call them "the numbers" now. Each one of them has a number written on their shoulder, the number of deaths they faced. Last week I saw one attacking a fortified position. 50 of our people inside, one of him. His number was 378. He learned from 378 mistakes. He had the experience of 378 deaths and probably taken 20 times that number of lives. Even if we had a reliable way to kill them, we couldn't stop them. This one didn't even get shot once in that assault. He just went through our defenders like they were sheep being slaughtered. But that's not even the worst thing. 1 in 5000, we could deal with. it's not that many. Heavy caliber shots to the head or explosions work. Maybe we would have to sacrifice some of our men but we could do it. But the humans rallied behind the numbers. With hope came the will to fight and with that every man and woman became a warrior, all with the same determination as the numbers. Those who can't die lead those who aren't afraid to. Those who can't fight anymore work to make weapons for those who can. Their entire species has turned themselves into a war machine. They fight, they train, they build. They do not stop. That first time I saw a number is now 7 years ago. The tide of the war has shifted long ago. I can't even remember the last time I heard about a victory on our side. That battle 6 months ago where they retreated after having killed 5 times as many of us as we killed of them? Should we call that a victory? We pulled all we had together for that fight and they retreated, regrouped, hit our unguarded flanks and broke our line the next day. Nobody who "won" that battle ever left the site of it. They encircled them and killed them all. Our leadership still hopes they can win. They hope some new technology or new allies will turn the tide of battle. It wont. Nothing can stop people like that. We have made a terrible mistake. We thought they wanted peace because they were afraid of fighting. That wasn't true. They wanted peace because they were afraid of what fighting again would turn them into. They knew that, deep down, they were warriors and monsters. They were afraid to ever let that side of them out again. I can only pray that they will forgive us this mistake. That they will want to be those good peaceful people again. Because we can not stop them. Only they can stop themselves. And if they do not want to, I am certain that the Etherian Empire will only live on in history books. If you ever read those words and find the humans to be a peaceful people who strive for diplomacy and friendship with all species, understand that this is their decision, not their nature. And if you make them abandon that choice, you will face a storm that you can't imagine. I can hear the sirens now. I need to get back to my post. They have already taken the access road and the second post yesterday. We have set up defensive positions but I don't think they will hold. But I will go out, I will man my station. I will fight like they do, without fear. I can hear the sirens. Our positions won't hold.	Insects. That was what the Grand One always called the human race. He had called them weak, cowardly beings with no strength to speak of- to an extent that was true. Their physical bodies lacked any meaningful power, and it was almost nothing in comparison to the mighty bodies of the Sidernia people. But they were by no means cowards, and they were by no means weak. Their technology more than made up for their lack of physical prowess, and their hearts were just as brave as their minds were smart. It was astounding. The humans had always avoided war before. They were excellent diplomats and were adept at reaching agreements with others, normally to minimal loss for themselves. They would normally abstain from any wars that were fought as well, lending only technological and humanitarian aid. The Grand One had taken this as a sign of weakness. He had convinced the whole Sidernian people this as well. He had convinced them to wage war on the human worlds. He had made a grave mistake. Initially the Conquest went well. A quick and powerful assault on many of the border worlds lead to massive leaps into the human territories. The Sidernian militaries power and ferocity drew swaths of death on the human systems serene canvas. But then the war began to stall. In barely three months into the war, the human worlds began fighting much harder, digging their heels into the ground and forcing every Sidernian step to be fought for. Nine months in, and full force battles were being waged once again, with human military efforts beginning to turn back Sidernian offense. A year in, the human races main blockade fell, and Sidernian forced began to surge into the system center- and were slaughtered. A message was broadcast through every frequency in the universe, sent from the human birth-world of Earth. "There are three things all wise beings fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man. Congratulations Sidernian people, you have provoked the wrath of the gentle human race. We attempted to end things with peace. We tried to reason with you. Then it became evident words will not work. You have now invoked our wrath Sidernians, and I am sorry that you did." The video cut to the scene of a massive ship graveyard. Thousands of ships, all with the Sidernian seal and make, floated in open space, many torn asunder, other blasted to bits. "This is your final warning to withdraw from human space Sidernian Grand One, or this trail of destruction will follow you deep into your own lands. You have been warned." The transmission ended there, but the Sidernians war did not. A month later, hundreds of thousands of human ships appeared in the war zone, each ship manned by thousands upon thousands of humans. Each and every ship was outfitted with powerful weaponry and state of the art shields, and their soldiers outfitted with anything from a state of the art plasma rifle to a basic pea-shooter. A matter of months later, the Sidernian Empire fell. A combination of overwhelming force from the human race and infighting from the Sidernian people lead the entire system into destruction. As the universe looked on in awe, the human nation declared the war over, claiming half of the Sidernian Empire and reaffirming the respect the universe had for the human race. The whole universe learned that indeed, the wrath of the gentle man was one thing that should always be truly feared.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We should have realized, should have listen, when Ensign Blaagk , played that recording he found from Earth's History. "It is our Love of Nation , our way of life , of those we serve side by side with. We Defend we Avenge, we sacrifice, we bleed, and we are willing to Die for this unique creation. We Have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you kno whats good for you. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down. We seen war, we don't want WAR. But if you Want WAR, there is one thing I can promise you, someone else will raise your sons and daughters." All at high command thought this to be a comedy broadcast of forgotten ages. It was soo funny how tough the Humans were acting on the show. It must not be real. Or so High Command believed. When the first wave of landing ships touchdown on the planet. The troops spilled out onto the open fields, still no humans there to meet them and bow down to our might. But when our troops marched away from the drop ships. That is when All Hell Broke Loose. The drop ships came under direct attack. within 30 minutes the Humans had captured all the drop ships. In 3 hours our own drop ships were heading into orbit and began attacking the mother ship. Painted on the sides of all drop ships "TOTAL WAR" Our ground troops had been ambushed several miles away from each landing site. The Humans had been hiding, in trees, under ground, in buildings, they dressed themselves like bushes, like rocks. Bombs, Bullets, Mortars, Rockets, Missiles slammed into our ground forces from every direction. Our troops had No time to get into formation, to get their kill ranks and squads formed up before the Humans cut them down. And cut our troops apart they did. Near one Landing site, Black clad small men with curved shiny blades dropped out of trees and cut our troops in half. Our comms channels was blocked by a Human saying repeating over and over, "Cry Havoc, and Loose the Dogs of WAR!" We Never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them The Mother ship has crashed into their planet, shield are down, all defenses are down, the crew is fighting compartment to compartment to try and hold the Humans back while they try and fix the interstellar emergency be-can. But the Humans destroyed the array in the first strike, and as soon as they breached the hull the made their way to command deck and executed all the officers there, by cutting their heads off, so the entire crew could see over vid screen. They then seized engineering and crashed the ship on purpose. There are Humans all over the ship. Those that are not fighting and killing the crew are stealing everything they can get their hands on. I am hiding in a escape pod , watching the monitor screens, Lt. Blaagk last living officer of Earth Invasion Fleet.	Insects. That was what the Grand One always called the human race. He had called them weak, cowardly beings with no strength to speak of- to an extent that was true. Their physical bodies lacked any meaningful power, and it was almost nothing in comparison to the mighty bodies of the Sidernia people. But they were by no means cowards, and they were by no means weak. Their technology more than made up for their lack of physical prowess, and their hearts were just as brave as their minds were smart. It was astounding. The humans had always avoided war before. They were excellent diplomats and were adept at reaching agreements with others, normally to minimal loss for themselves. They would normally abstain from any wars that were fought as well, lending only technological and humanitarian aid. The Grand One had taken this as a sign of weakness. He had convinced the whole Sidernian people this as well. He had convinced them to wage war on the human worlds. He had made a grave mistake. Initially the Conquest went well. A quick and powerful assault on many of the border worlds lead to massive leaps into the human territories. The Sidernian militaries power and ferocity drew swaths of death on the human systems serene canvas. But then the war began to stall. In barely three months into the war, the human worlds began fighting much harder, digging their heels into the ground and forcing every Sidernian step to be fought for. Nine months in, and full force battles were being waged once again, with human military efforts beginning to turn back Sidernian offense. A year in, the human races main blockade fell, and Sidernian forced began to surge into the system center- and were slaughtered. A message was broadcast through every frequency in the universe, sent from the human birth-world of Earth. "There are three things all wise beings fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man. Congratulations Sidernian people, you have provoked the wrath of the gentle human race. We attempted to end things with peace. We tried to reason with you. Then it became evident words will not work. You have now invoked our wrath Sidernians, and I am sorry that you did." The video cut to the scene of a massive ship graveyard. Thousands of ships, all with the Sidernian seal and make, floated in open space, many torn asunder, other blasted to bits. "This is your final warning to withdraw from human space Sidernian Grand One, or this trail of destruction will follow you deep into your own lands. You have been warned." The transmission ended there, but the Sidernians war did not. A month later, hundreds of thousands of human ships appeared in the war zone, each ship manned by thousands upon thousands of humans. Each and every ship was outfitted with powerful weaponry and state of the art shields, and their soldiers outfitted with anything from a state of the art plasma rifle to a basic pea-shooter. A matter of months later, the Sidernian Empire fell. A combination of overwhelming force from the human race and infighting from the Sidernian people lead the entire system into destruction. As the universe looked on in awe, the human nation declared the war over, claiming half of the Sidernian Empire and reaffirming the respect the universe had for the human race. The whole universe learned that indeed, the wrath of the gentle man was one thing that should always be truly feared.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The expansion into the Sol system was supposed to be the latest iteration in a pattern I had repeated dozens of times across my career. for civilisations falling just below type I, we would initiate first contact, and demand vassalisation. seventy five percent of all civilisations we encountered stopped at this step, in face of our overwhelming technological superiority it was the logical choice. The remaining twenty five mounted a quick but often bloodless defence, followed by an honorable surrender and assecsion to the empire. The humans of Earth returned our ambassador flayed and mutilated. The humans, who up until our arrival had been at each other's throats owing to petty tribalism and coveting each other's natural resources united virtually overnight against us. Nearly every object they produced was hastily retooled into a weapon of war. When we expended their supply of military atmospheric craft, they turned to crashing civillian transports laden with chemical explosives into our installations. The closer we came to defeating them, the more brutal they became. They hurled chemicals of crude noxious gasses at our soldiers, scorching their repsiratory organs. Platoons of soldiers that surrendered en-masse turned out to be infected with a genetically engineered plague tailored for our biology. Children approached our armored columns, seemingly out of curiosity, which we had seen before. Except these children had explosive vests hidden under their coats, remote triggered by a vengeful parent hiding in rubble nearby. We had been begrudgingly compared to "Romans" by more cooperative humans, refering to an ancient power that while imperialist, maintained a strong sense of professionalism and discipline. Yet in the face of such a brutal enemy, the discipline our combat units, trained for dozens of human years and battlehardened from dozens more of interplanetary campaigns began to break down. Twitchy commanders, suffering from a mental illness we had never seen, yet humans easily diagnosed as "post traumatic stress syndrome" soon gunned down approaching humans on sight, and prisoners were seldom taken. All this only had the effect of intensifying humanity's burning hatred for our empire. What should have taken less than half of their years instead took a decade, and four armies worth of reinforcements. Finally, we had reduced their regular militaries to haggard fanatics hiding in subterranean bunkers across the planet. Yet just before we breached the final bunker containing their leadership, and remaining military infrastructure, the leadership activated a network of missiles containing fusion warheads, hidden in previously unencountered submersible vehicles scattered across their oceans. If we couldn't have earth, nobody could. These missiles were not powerful enough to even make orbit around their planet, much less strike our staging bases on their moon. This told us that the humans had built such a destructive weapons system not for use on us, but on each other. The results of the campaign had a traumatic effect not only on our soldiers, but the entire empire. The value of earth was it's breathable atmosphere, a perfect target for colonisation. Yet in the push of a button, humans made a decade of war, the deaths of hundreds of millions of our soldiers, and quintillions of credits meaningless. We evacuated and quarantined Earth, and the entire system was seen as effectively haunted. I never saw another human again after their species' self immolation. Yet I remain haunted by one thought: If even a dozen breeding pairs of humans were to survive and persist, then our civilisation is in mortal danger. Their children would grow up in caves with respirator masks permanantly affixed to their heads, hearing tales of burning hatred, consecrating themselves as avatars of vengence before they could read. Even if it took a thousand years, they would crawl groaning and screaming out of the ashes until they could stand, and they would not sit until vengence for our crimes against their ancestors had been extracted ten times over.	Insects. That was what the Grand One always called the human race. He had called them weak, cowardly beings with no strength to speak of- to an extent that was true. Their physical bodies lacked any meaningful power, and it was almost nothing in comparison to the mighty bodies of the Sidernia people. But they were by no means cowards, and they were by no means weak. Their technology more than made up for their lack of physical prowess, and their hearts were just as brave as their minds were smart. It was astounding. The humans had always avoided war before. They were excellent diplomats and were adept at reaching agreements with others, normally to minimal loss for themselves. They would normally abstain from any wars that were fought as well, lending only technological and humanitarian aid. The Grand One had taken this as a sign of weakness. He had convinced the whole Sidernian people this as well. He had convinced them to wage war on the human worlds. He had made a grave mistake. Initially the Conquest went well. A quick and powerful assault on many of the border worlds lead to massive leaps into the human territories. The Sidernian militaries power and ferocity drew swaths of death on the human systems serene canvas. But then the war began to stall. In barely three months into the war, the human worlds began fighting much harder, digging their heels into the ground and forcing every Sidernian step to be fought for. Nine months in, and full force battles were being waged once again, with human military efforts beginning to turn back Sidernian offense. A year in, the human races main blockade fell, and Sidernian forced began to surge into the system center- and were slaughtered. A message was broadcast through every frequency in the universe, sent from the human birth-world of Earth. "There are three things all wise beings fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man. Congratulations Sidernian people, you have provoked the wrath of the gentle human race. We attempted to end things with peace. We tried to reason with you. Then it became evident words will not work. You have now invoked our wrath Sidernians, and I am sorry that you did." The video cut to the scene of a massive ship graveyard. Thousands of ships, all with the Sidernian seal and make, floated in open space, many torn asunder, other blasted to bits. "This is your final warning to withdraw from human space Sidernian Grand One, or this trail of destruction will follow you deep into your own lands. You have been warned." The transmission ended there, but the Sidernians war did not. A month later, hundreds of thousands of human ships appeared in the war zone, each ship manned by thousands upon thousands of humans. Each and every ship was outfitted with powerful weaponry and state of the art shields, and their soldiers outfitted with anything from a state of the art plasma rifle to a basic pea-shooter. A matter of months later, the Sidernian Empire fell. A combination of overwhelming force from the human race and infighting from the Sidernian people lead the entire system into destruction. As the universe looked on in awe, the human nation declared the war over, claiming half of the Sidernian Empire and reaffirming the respect the universe had for the human race. The whole universe learned that indeed, the wrath of the gentle man was one thing that should always be truly feared.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The great Kreen empire had ruled for millennia, ever expanding with trillions of souls on thousands of worlds all toiling away for the benefit of the Dai'Kreen, the God Kings who ruled with an iron fist. The Kreen first learned of the humans through rumors of encounters on the outer fringes of the empire. Stories of underwhelming ships approaching Kreen vessels, attempting to hail them with declarations of peace and desire for trade. The humans knew not of the ways of the Kreen, the Kreen have no need for trade, they take what they desire, nor do they care for peace, the only peace is subjugation under the Dai'Kreen. Conflict began gradually, the negotiations of the humans, begging for peace, groveling for the mercy of the Dai'Kreen to "spare innocent lives" but the Kreen cared not for the wishes of lesser beings. The Dai'Kreen were destined to own the galaxy and any within it belonged to the empire, the Kreen would enlighten the humans of this truth. The Dai'Kreen gave the humans one last warning. "Hundreds of races have faced the might of the Kreen empire and all have fallen. Those who willingly embraced the empire were accepted with open arms. Prepare your world's for Kreen rule, yield to the empire and we will be lenient. Resist and face decimation." The human's reply was slow coming, but brief. "So be it." The Dai'Kreen struck first. The skies of a dozen human worlds were shattered at once as rift gates opened high above them. Relativistic darts, rods of ultra high density material accelerated to near the speed of light, tore through the rifts and impacted the human worlds with phenomenal force. Planets broke, billions died in an instant. The Kreen expected humanity to fold in the face of such horror, but the Dai'Kreen did not know humans. They did not know that every major scientific advancement in human history had been a a direct result of conflict. They didn't know that humanity had unlocked the power of the atom all in an attempt to more efficiently kill their own kind. The Kreen did not know that humanity had pushed itself to the brink of extinction on multiple occasions because of precisely how effecient they were at warfare. The Dai'Kreen did not know they were not the first empire to make this grave mistake in judgement. Billions of humans died in the initial salvo but the Kreen were unaware of the psychological effect that would have on humanity. The Kreen expected the humans to see the destruction caused and be awestruck by its majesty, paralyzed in the face of annihilation. They were not aware of the single most unique trait of the humans. Tenacity. When the humans broke the seals on the Armory Wolrds that housed their hidden armadas, hundreds of planet sized hangars released hundreds of thousands of warships all with the sole purpose of avenging the lives lost in the Kreen's techerous opening attack. Human fleets pushed deep into the core of the Kreen empire, world after world systematically pacified or liberated by the sheer overwhelming capacity for violence the humans possessed. The humans pushed the Dai'Kreen back to their ancient seats of power, the Throne Worlds of their home system. Here the remaining Dai'Kreen in a desperate attempt at reconciliation begged the humans for mercy. "Surely there is a way that both our great races can thrive? None could withstand the might of our great empires, together the Kreen and humanity could rule the galaxy unapposed." The encroaching human fleet did not initially respond, but they briefly held their fire. Seeing a potential the Dai'Kreen hailed them once more. "We hoped reason would prevail, we know now what a grave mistake we made refusing your attempts at peace -" The human's leader abruptly cut into the Dai'Kreen broadcast. "No, I don't think you realize just how big a mistake you made, but you will. You fucked around, now find out." Suddenly the Kreen sensors were blinded by thousands of simultaneous bursts of Gama radiation as the human ships tore open space time and jumped away from the Throne Worlds. Moments later another far brighter flash of light engulfed the Throne Worlds. The super weapon deployed by the humans during the lull in fighting had accomplished its goal, the sun at the center of the Throne Worlds went nova incinerating the Dai'Kreen and any left loyal to their rule. Humanity reshackled its weapons of war, returned to its ways of peace and continued to explore the cosmos under a white flag. Not because they feared for their own survival, but for the survival of anyone else.	Insects. That was what the Grand One always called the human race. He had called them weak, cowardly beings with no strength to speak of- to an extent that was true. Their physical bodies lacked any meaningful power, and it was almost nothing in comparison to the mighty bodies of the Sidernia people. But they were by no means cowards, and they were by no means weak. Their technology more than made up for their lack of physical prowess, and their hearts were just as brave as their minds were smart. It was astounding. The humans had always avoided war before. They were excellent diplomats and were adept at reaching agreements with others, normally to minimal loss for themselves. They would normally abstain from any wars that were fought as well, lending only technological and humanitarian aid. The Grand One had taken this as a sign of weakness. He had convinced the whole Sidernian people this as well. He had convinced them to wage war on the human worlds. He had made a grave mistake. Initially the Conquest went well. A quick and powerful assault on many of the border worlds lead to massive leaps into the human territories. The Sidernian militaries power and ferocity drew swaths of death on the human systems serene canvas. But then the war began to stall. In barely three months into the war, the human worlds began fighting much harder, digging their heels into the ground and forcing every Sidernian step to be fought for. Nine months in, and full force battles were being waged once again, with human military efforts beginning to turn back Sidernian offense. A year in, the human races main blockade fell, and Sidernian forced began to surge into the system center- and were slaughtered. A message was broadcast through every frequency in the universe, sent from the human birth-world of Earth. "There are three things all wise beings fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man. Congratulations Sidernian people, you have provoked the wrath of the gentle human race. We attempted to end things with peace. We tried to reason with you. Then it became evident words will not work. You have now invoked our wrath Sidernians, and I am sorry that you did." The video cut to the scene of a massive ship graveyard. Thousands of ships, all with the Sidernian seal and make, floated in open space, many torn asunder, other blasted to bits. "This is your final warning to withdraw from human space Sidernian Grand One, or this trail of destruction will follow you deep into your own lands. You have been warned." The transmission ended there, but the Sidernians war did not. A month later, hundreds of thousands of human ships appeared in the war zone, each ship manned by thousands upon thousands of humans. Each and every ship was outfitted with powerful weaponry and state of the art shields, and their soldiers outfitted with anything from a state of the art plasma rifle to a basic pea-shooter. A matter of months later, the Sidernian Empire fell. A combination of overwhelming force from the human race and infighting from the Sidernian people lead the entire system into destruction. As the universe looked on in awe, the human nation declared the war over, claiming half of the Sidernian Empire and reaffirming the respect the universe had for the human race. The whole universe learned that indeed, the wrath of the gentle man was one thing that should always be truly feared.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Torus took his seat at the table, one of 11 identical seats. As he glanced around the circle, his upper mouth twisted into a frown. Typically, the ten representatives of the Federation took joy in subtly outdoing one another at their meetings. This human insistance on identical seats set at a round table was perplexing. The way of the Federation was simple. Ten species ruled coequally. Other species joined as clients. To join, they accepted the extermination of two thirds of their species. The remainder took their rightful place in breeding programs, coupled with overhaul of industry and agriculture. This ensured the continued prosperity of the Federation. Occasionally, some future clients proved troublesome. For them, the Federation had the Ru'a. Kronan scientists discovered the Ru'a early on. A primitive species, but perfect for genetic modification. Now, all Ru'a we're clones. There were no females. Missing proteins in their cells ensured they depended on the Federation for survival. When needed, entire armies could be grown. When the Federation was finished with them, they thrown away. Few Ru'a survived past the age of 5. Torus looked up, gratefully, at his Ru'a guards. The humans had no idea what was coming for them. A door on the other side of the chamber opened and the human diplomat seated himself at the table. These diplomats - the humans thought they could talk their way out of their fate. Some suspected they even thought to secure full representation for themselves. Ridiculous! The human spoke, "We have reviewed the terms of Federation membership and, I apologize, but we do not find them acceptable. While your Federation is certainly a powerful force, we would prefer to take things a little slower. I am sure that, one day, we may sit together as friends, but for now, perhaps we should focus on building some preliminary trade agreements. There are many possibilities -" The human was interrupted by a fist banging on the table. Kruathanan, of the Ghorsh, never took kindly to resistance. "Silence, human," he hissed, "You talk and you talk. You wear your diplomacy like a cloak of protection, thinking it will keep you safe. Nothing can save you." The human stared at Ghorsh. At first, Torus thought he was frightened. After a few moments, he checked his timepiece and it became clear that he was merely thinking. Again, he spoke, "You are all so mighty. Nothing can match you for speed or strength. Your lives are counted in centuries. We humans are different. Like your Ru'a, every day is a struggle to survive. Our lives are short. Death stands over us, every moment of every day." "When Death stands over you, you can do one of three things. You can fight it, which is ultimately-" "-futile." Torus turned to his guard in surprise. All of the Ru'a seemed to have become oddly intent. There was an edge to them that Torus had never seen before. The human didn't seem surprised at all. "Exactly, thank you. The second choice is to run from it. We had a poet who once wrote, because I would not stop for Death, Death kindly stopped for me. You cannot outrun Death." The Ru'a all chuckled. Torus didn't know they even had a sense of humor. "The third option is to make Death your friend and companion. To learn from Death. To allow Death to make you wise. We have learned much. Patience. Forgiveness." He turned to look, again, at Ghorsh. "You think we engage in diplomacy, to wear this cloak, to protect ourselves? No, we wear it to protect you. In times of trouble. Kronans can turn to their intellect. Kruathanan can turn to their strength." He nodded at Torus, "The Tun can rely on their cunning. We humans have only Death. We can be your friend, or we can kill you all. I'm afraid there is no middle ground." He glanced at his timepiece. "I'm sorry, this is taking longer than I thought. We will not mire ourselves in generations of war, and we most certainly will not accede to your demands. If you will not be our friends, then know that Death is coming." He nodded towards the Ru'a. "These brave men are like us. They live with Death. But unlike them, we have not been made small by false gods. You sit with us at this table because you think you have taken the measure of our resistance. This is merely the beginning." Ghorsh, fool that he was, began bellowing all of the things he planned to do to the human diplomat. There were threats about eating his heart while he still lived. Something about burning the diplomats family alive. The diplomat looked... bored. During a pause for breath the diplomat interjected, "You think I made an empty threat. Make no mistake, Death is coming for you. Every one of you has a weakness. The Kruathanan atmosphere, for instance, is very fickle. It doesn't take much to turn it against you." He checked his timepiece again. "Approximately 3 minutes ago, a Terran raiding vessel was likely destroyed by your planetary defenses. Before destruction it released a compound into your atmosphere. By now, your sky is beginning to darken. In a few hours, your people will have suffocated." The color drained from Ghorsh's face. He began to rise from the table, but a sharp crack sent him slumping to the floor, tail twitching. One of his Ru'a guards had broken his neck. The other representatives were, likewise, dispatched. Torus found himself awash in pain as his head hit the table. The guard had snapped his first and second neck, but missed the third. He could only watch in agony as the Ru'a pledged themselves to the humans and watch in disbelief as the humans pledged to find a way to free the Ru'a from their enslavement. He listened to them as they planned their conquest, to free all the client worlds of the Federation and reforge it anew. One of the Ru'a noticed him watching. The last thing Torus heard was the snapping of his third neck.	Insects. That was what the Grand One always called the human race. He had called them weak, cowardly beings with no strength to speak of- to an extent that was true. Their physical bodies lacked any meaningful power, and it was almost nothing in comparison to the mighty bodies of the Sidernia people. But they were by no means cowards, and they were by no means weak. Their technology more than made up for their lack of physical prowess, and their hearts were just as brave as their minds were smart. It was astounding. The humans had always avoided war before. They were excellent diplomats and were adept at reaching agreements with others, normally to minimal loss for themselves. They would normally abstain from any wars that were fought as well, lending only technological and humanitarian aid. The Grand One had taken this as a sign of weakness. He had convinced the whole Sidernian people this as well. He had convinced them to wage war on the human worlds. He had made a grave mistake. Initially the Conquest went well. A quick and powerful assault on many of the border worlds lead to massive leaps into the human territories. The Sidernian militaries power and ferocity drew swaths of death on the human systems serene canvas. But then the war began to stall. In barely three months into the war, the human worlds began fighting much harder, digging their heels into the ground and forcing every Sidernian step to be fought for. Nine months in, and full force battles were being waged once again, with human military efforts beginning to turn back Sidernian offense. A year in, the human races main blockade fell, and Sidernian forced began to surge into the system center- and were slaughtered. A message was broadcast through every frequency in the universe, sent from the human birth-world of Earth. "There are three things all wise beings fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man. Congratulations Sidernian people, you have provoked the wrath of the gentle human race. We attempted to end things with peace. We tried to reason with you. Then it became evident words will not work. You have now invoked our wrath Sidernians, and I am sorry that you did." The video cut to the scene of a massive ship graveyard. Thousands of ships, all with the Sidernian seal and make, floated in open space, many torn asunder, other blasted to bits. "This is your final warning to withdraw from human space Sidernian Grand One, or this trail of destruction will follow you deep into your own lands. You have been warned." The transmission ended there, but the Sidernians war did not. A month later, hundreds of thousands of human ships appeared in the war zone, each ship manned by thousands upon thousands of humans. Each and every ship was outfitted with powerful weaponry and state of the art shields, and their soldiers outfitted with anything from a state of the art plasma rifle to a basic pea-shooter. A matter of months later, the Sidernian Empire fell. A combination of overwhelming force from the human race and infighting from the Sidernian people lead the entire system into destruction. As the universe looked on in awe, the human nation declared the war over, claiming half of the Sidernian Empire and reaffirming the respect the universe had for the human race. The whole universe learned that indeed, the wrath of the gentle man was one thing that should always be truly feared.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The old human in a white robe closed the door behind him as he left. The hulking being known as HiveKing grabbed and threw an underling against the door. The carapace of the poor serving boy cracked and ichor spilled slowly out. "Father, it is insufferable that they once again talk of peace. He cites old laws in languages of people we conquered many turnings ago. That he refuses honorable combat between our species is insulting. That YOU say nothing is even more so." Still breathing heavily, his outer eye shields still down he glared over at the old man. "It is not without guilt that I speak of this to you now, I did not think you would push so far" the older being huffed, mandibles weakly clacking to indicate distress. "Sit and I would tell you the great secret of the humans Angels and Devils" "many turnings ago I was a young ruler such as you. Battle is the life blood of our species and the weaker races are nothing but interesting diversions and ways to sharpen our claws. This was until we came across the dark sphere of Humanity." The older being shifted, obviously uncomfortable as he continued. "You see they had blinded the greater races to their sun by encapsulating their entire system in one giant sphere. Diverting even the heat of their sun so they were effectively missing from the galaxy. One of the servitor races accidentally crashed into this sphere which brought our attention to them, and theirs to us" The younger interrupted, hands clenching and unclenching slowly so that he could admire the muscles under his skin move "Yes, this is known, then Humanity became the talkers and none can now make them mad enough for proper combat, They speak and speak and speak and know every law of every race and talk out of any insult. Pathetic" "Yes, but what has been hidden from all is why we allow this. Listen, I bring truth to you now. We met the humans in the white robes who dwell on the surface of their sphere. They called themselves angels and recited the laws of many people, and sang us versus from their holy writ." The older shifted again and shook his head "I laughed at them, slaughtered these angels, mocked their holy Abrahamavitta with great joy. We bombed them with the weapons of power, then we used the ancient weapons just to feel their blood on us. It was a day of great joy for all the people. We took the leader, the one they called Christohammed and put him on display in our throne room" A long sigh and several minutes went by before the older continued, his voice taking on a much different tone than the younger had ever heard. "And then they opened the great gates and the devils, as we heard them called, emerged. Great, hulking ships the size of planets appeared out of the darkness. Each ship sent out squadrons of lesser ships, which sent out smaller until the universe seemed nothing but the devil ships of humanity. Weapons we can not even explain lashed out at our people and they disappeared, or burst into flames, or melted into puddles of protoplasm. Nothing was allowed to live..." "Then they came, this unending horde, slicing through the worlds of all the people and slaughtered. Nothing was allowed to live, down to the grasses of the hills and the running food, all was killed. We never spoke to them, they never asked to speak to us. They killed and killed until we begged the angels of the sphere to stop them." The younger stood, looking astounded, almost crouching in a defensive posture at the horror and pain in the older voice. "This is not what is taught" he managed after a moment. Thinking of the dead worlds he had learned of, but was taught that a great cataclysm had befallen the galaxy. "They killed everything you see. The few angels we found and tortured called it 'the crusade' and they did not relent until they reached our throne room and took their Christohammed back. Then they stopped and turned around and left. Shortly after the angels came back as if nothing had happened. Unfazed by any insult, never angry, citing only the old laws to get out of any incidents" "I beg of you, do not make the mistakes I have made, let them talk. For when they stop speaking everything dies"	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	From the chornicles of the last days of Etheria, Author unknown: We are not going to win this war. Nobody could win this. We have to end it, to surrender, to run, to do something but we can not win. At first everything was going fine for us. We were winning battles, every battle. Nothing they did could stop us. And in our victories we became cruel and evil. We really left them no choice. What else could they have done? Wait for their extinction? Desperate times lead to desperate measures and we made them so very desperate. The first stories started to be whispered in the third year of the war. I thought it were ghost stories. We were, at most, one year away from completely wiping them from the face of the galaxy. Of course they would try to spread propaganda to make us slow down. That was, until I saw it myself. It wasn't all of them. Maybe 1 in 5000. Maybe less, maybe more. But those few, they had done something to them. They wouldn't die anymore. I shot him. I know I shot him. Square in the center of the chest. And he fell. I saw the blood on the ground but then he got back up. He just got back up and kept coming. And I shot him again. And he got back up. In the end, he got hit by an explosion. With enough damage they don't come back. But he killed dozens of ours before. I am sure they feel the pain. I heard them scream as they are hit and when we managed to capture one and experiment on him he even cried. They feel the pain but they don't slow down and they do not stop...and they learn. What type of species does that to themselves? What type of species turns themselves into monsters? And what type of people will keep running head on into death over and over again? We call them "the numbers" now. Each one of them has a number written on their shoulder, the number of deaths they faced. Last week I saw one attacking a fortified position. 50 of our people inside, one of him. His number was 378. He learned from 378 mistakes. He had the experience of 378 deaths and probably taken 20 times that number of lives. Even if we had a reliable way to kill them, we couldn't stop them. This one didn't even get shot once in that assault. He just went through our defenders like they were sheep being slaughtered. But that's not even the worst thing. 1 in 5000, we could deal with. it's not that many. Heavy caliber shots to the head or explosions work. Maybe we would have to sacrifice some of our men but we could do it. But the humans rallied behind the numbers. With hope came the will to fight and with that every man and woman became a warrior, all with the same determination as the numbers. Those who can't die lead those who aren't afraid to. Those who can't fight anymore work to make weapons for those who can. Their entire species has turned themselves into a war machine. They fight, they train, they build. They do not stop. That first time I saw a number is now 7 years ago. The tide of the war has shifted long ago. I can't even remember the last time I heard about a victory on our side. That battle 6 months ago where they retreated after having killed 5 times as many of us as we killed of them? Should we call that a victory? We pulled all we had together for that fight and they retreated, regrouped, hit our unguarded flanks and broke our line the next day. Nobody who "won" that battle ever left the site of it. They encircled them and killed them all. Our leadership still hopes they can win. They hope some new technology or new allies will turn the tide of battle. It wont. Nothing can stop people like that. We have made a terrible mistake. We thought they wanted peace because they were afraid of fighting. That wasn't true. They wanted peace because they were afraid of what fighting again would turn them into. They knew that, deep down, they were warriors and monsters. They were afraid to ever let that side of them out again. I can only pray that they will forgive us this mistake. That they will want to be those good peaceful people again. Because we can not stop them. Only they can stop themselves. And if they do not want to, I am certain that the Etherian Empire will only live on in history books. If you ever read those words and find the humans to be a peaceful people who strive for diplomacy and friendship with all species, understand that this is their decision, not their nature. And if you make them abandon that choice, you will face a storm that you can't imagine. I can hear the sirens now. I need to get back to my post. They have already taken the access road and the second post yesterday. We have set up defensive positions but I don't think they will hold. But I will go out, I will man my station. I will fight like they do, without fear. I can hear the sirens. Our positions won't hold.	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We should have realized, should have listen, when Ensign Blaagk , played that recording he found from Earth's History. "It is our Love of Nation , our way of life , of those we serve side by side with. We Defend we Avenge, we sacrifice, we bleed, and we are willing to Die for this unique creation. We Have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you kno whats good for you. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down. We seen war, we don't want WAR. But if you Want WAR, there is one thing I can promise you, someone else will raise your sons and daughters." All at high command thought this to be a comedy broadcast of forgotten ages. It was soo funny how tough the Humans were acting on the show. It must not be real. Or so High Command believed. When the first wave of landing ships touchdown on the planet. The troops spilled out onto the open fields, still no humans there to meet them and bow down to our might. But when our troops marched away from the drop ships. That is when All Hell Broke Loose. The drop ships came under direct attack. within 30 minutes the Humans had captured all the drop ships. In 3 hours our own drop ships were heading into orbit and began attacking the mother ship. Painted on the sides of all drop ships "TOTAL WAR" Our ground troops had been ambushed several miles away from each landing site. The Humans had been hiding, in trees, under ground, in buildings, they dressed themselves like bushes, like rocks. Bombs, Bullets, Mortars, Rockets, Missiles slammed into our ground forces from every direction. Our troops had No time to get into formation, to get their kill ranks and squads formed up before the Humans cut them down. And cut our troops apart they did. Near one Landing site, Black clad small men with curved shiny blades dropped out of trees and cut our troops in half. Our comms channels was blocked by a Human saying repeating over and over, "Cry Havoc, and Loose the Dogs of WAR!" We Never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them The Mother ship has crashed into their planet, shield are down, all defenses are down, the crew is fighting compartment to compartment to try and hold the Humans back while they try and fix the interstellar emergency be-can. But the Humans destroyed the array in the first strike, and as soon as they breached the hull the made their way to command deck and executed all the officers there, by cutting their heads off, so the entire crew could see over vid screen. They then seized engineering and crashed the ship on purpose. There are Humans all over the ship. Those that are not fighting and killing the crew are stealing everything they can get their hands on. I am hiding in a escape pod , watching the monitor screens, Lt. Blaagk last living officer of Earth Invasion Fleet.	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The expansion into the Sol system was supposed to be the latest iteration in a pattern I had repeated dozens of times across my career. for civilisations falling just below type I, we would initiate first contact, and demand vassalisation. seventy five percent of all civilisations we encountered stopped at this step, in face of our overwhelming technological superiority it was the logical choice. The remaining twenty five mounted a quick but often bloodless defence, followed by an honorable surrender and assecsion to the empire. The humans of Earth returned our ambassador flayed and mutilated. The humans, who up until our arrival had been at each other's throats owing to petty tribalism and coveting each other's natural resources united virtually overnight against us. Nearly every object they produced was hastily retooled into a weapon of war. When we expended their supply of military atmospheric craft, they turned to crashing civillian transports laden with chemical explosives into our installations. The closer we came to defeating them, the more brutal they became. They hurled chemicals of crude noxious gasses at our soldiers, scorching their repsiratory organs. Platoons of soldiers that surrendered en-masse turned out to be infected with a genetically engineered plague tailored for our biology. Children approached our armored columns, seemingly out of curiosity, which we had seen before. Except these children had explosive vests hidden under their coats, remote triggered by a vengeful parent hiding in rubble nearby. We had been begrudgingly compared to "Romans" by more cooperative humans, refering to an ancient power that while imperialist, maintained a strong sense of professionalism and discipline. Yet in the face of such a brutal enemy, the discipline our combat units, trained for dozens of human years and battlehardened from dozens more of interplanetary campaigns began to break down. Twitchy commanders, suffering from a mental illness we had never seen, yet humans easily diagnosed as "post traumatic stress syndrome" soon gunned down approaching humans on sight, and prisoners were seldom taken. All this only had the effect of intensifying humanity's burning hatred for our empire. What should have taken less than half of their years instead took a decade, and four armies worth of reinforcements. Finally, we had reduced their regular militaries to haggard fanatics hiding in subterranean bunkers across the planet. Yet just before we breached the final bunker containing their leadership, and remaining military infrastructure, the leadership activated a network of missiles containing fusion warheads, hidden in previously unencountered submersible vehicles scattered across their oceans. If we couldn't have earth, nobody could. These missiles were not powerful enough to even make orbit around their planet, much less strike our staging bases on their moon. This told us that the humans had built such a destructive weapons system not for use on us, but on each other. The results of the campaign had a traumatic effect not only on our soldiers, but the entire empire. The value of earth was it's breathable atmosphere, a perfect target for colonisation. Yet in the push of a button, humans made a decade of war, the deaths of hundreds of millions of our soldiers, and quintillions of credits meaningless. We evacuated and quarantined Earth, and the entire system was seen as effectively haunted. I never saw another human again after their species' self immolation. Yet I remain haunted by one thought: If even a dozen breeding pairs of humans were to survive and persist, then our civilisation is in mortal danger. Their children would grow up in caves with respirator masks permanantly affixed to their heads, hearing tales of burning hatred, consecrating themselves as avatars of vengence before they could read. Even if it took a thousand years, they would crawl groaning and screaming out of the ashes until they could stand, and they would not sit until vengence for our crimes against their ancestors had been extracted ten times over.	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The great Kreen empire had ruled for millennia, ever expanding with trillions of souls on thousands of worlds all toiling away for the benefit of the Dai'Kreen, the God Kings who ruled with an iron fist. The Kreen first learned of the humans through rumors of encounters on the outer fringes of the empire. Stories of underwhelming ships approaching Kreen vessels, attempting to hail them with declarations of peace and desire for trade. The humans knew not of the ways of the Kreen, the Kreen have no need for trade, they take what they desire, nor do they care for peace, the only peace is subjugation under the Dai'Kreen. Conflict began gradually, the negotiations of the humans, begging for peace, groveling for the mercy of the Dai'Kreen to "spare innocent lives" but the Kreen cared not for the wishes of lesser beings. The Dai'Kreen were destined to own the galaxy and any within it belonged to the empire, the Kreen would enlighten the humans of this truth. The Dai'Kreen gave the humans one last warning. "Hundreds of races have faced the might of the Kreen empire and all have fallen. Those who willingly embraced the empire were accepted with open arms. Prepare your world's for Kreen rule, yield to the empire and we will be lenient. Resist and face decimation." The human's reply was slow coming, but brief. "So be it." The Dai'Kreen struck first. The skies of a dozen human worlds were shattered at once as rift gates opened high above them. Relativistic darts, rods of ultra high density material accelerated to near the speed of light, tore through the rifts and impacted the human worlds with phenomenal force. Planets broke, billions died in an instant. The Kreen expected humanity to fold in the face of such horror, but the Dai'Kreen did not know humans. They did not know that every major scientific advancement in human history had been a a direct result of conflict. They didn't know that humanity had unlocked the power of the atom all in an attempt to more efficiently kill their own kind. The Kreen did not know that humanity had pushed itself to the brink of extinction on multiple occasions because of precisely how effecient they were at warfare. The Dai'Kreen did not know they were not the first empire to make this grave mistake in judgement. Billions of humans died in the initial salvo but the Kreen were unaware of the psychological effect that would have on humanity. The Kreen expected the humans to see the destruction caused and be awestruck by its majesty, paralyzed in the face of annihilation. They were not aware of the single most unique trait of the humans. Tenacity. When the humans broke the seals on the Armory Wolrds that housed their hidden armadas, hundreds of planet sized hangars released hundreds of thousands of warships all with the sole purpose of avenging the lives lost in the Kreen's techerous opening attack. Human fleets pushed deep into the core of the Kreen empire, world after world systematically pacified or liberated by the sheer overwhelming capacity for violence the humans possessed. The humans pushed the Dai'Kreen back to their ancient seats of power, the Throne Worlds of their home system. Here the remaining Dai'Kreen in a desperate attempt at reconciliation begged the humans for mercy. "Surely there is a way that both our great races can thrive? None could withstand the might of our great empires, together the Kreen and humanity could rule the galaxy unapposed." The encroaching human fleet did not initially respond, but they briefly held their fire. Seeing a potential the Dai'Kreen hailed them once more. "We hoped reason would prevail, we know now what a grave mistake we made refusing your attempts at peace -" The human's leader abruptly cut into the Dai'Kreen broadcast. "No, I don't think you realize just how big a mistake you made, but you will. You fucked around, now find out." Suddenly the Kreen sensors were blinded by thousands of simultaneous bursts of Gama radiation as the human ships tore open space time and jumped away from the Throne Worlds. Moments later another far brighter flash of light engulfed the Throne Worlds. The super weapon deployed by the humans during the lull in fighting had accomplished its goal, the sun at the center of the Throne Worlds went nova incinerating the Dai'Kreen and any left loyal to their rule. Humanity reshackled its weapons of war, returned to its ways of peace and continued to explore the cosmos under a white flag. Not because they feared for their own survival, but for the survival of anyone else.	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	As the fleet began final approach to the human’s home system, I can’t help but to think how the finale of decades of war originally started. The specie’s sin, as countless others have been, was intruding on our space. The Imperium cared nothing for reckless exploration and expansion, finding a safe path through the wilds of interstellar space was too dangerous for such reckless risks. But, if a xenos species was to stumble into our territory, it was nothing to follow their path back to a habitual world. In these eventualities, the High Council would raise an conquest force, drawn from all worlds, and continued to do so until all trace of the race was erased from existence. Then, and only then, would the conquerors be disbanded and settled on those worlds they had taken. The first encounter with the humans had proven them unsuitable to existence. Any animal will fight to protect itself, but the first of their species taken claimed that they have moved past such things. A laughable concept and they were the first of the vermin exterminated. Like every other time in the ages past, a fleet was being assembled. But, before it could be launched, another human vessel violated our space. Those on board claimed they were envoys of peace and only wanted to find a way to coexist with us. No reply was sent except the ion trails of our weapons penetrating their ship’s hull. The first worlds fell easily. They had defenses, true, even warships in orbit, but chronological scans showed the youngest was built a hundred years ago. As the fleet pushed deeper in their territory, the gravitational residue of their warp drives making easily followed paths through space, the worlds became harder to defeat. The warships remained old, the only recent construction found in the orbital shipyards were passenger ships, constructed in an attempt to evacuate the populations. Most of the time the only sightings of these ships was their engines pushing them into recently opened warp portals as they fled. The remaining ships and population fighting to the last in defense of their worlds. It was strange, though. Even though the warships kept getting older the further we went, their offensive capabilities improved with each engagement. What began as antiquated atomic weapons with chemical propulsion evolved to rail weapons launching high density loads at .99c. After years, we began to fight in engagements with ships wielding weapons that broke down the molecular bonds of their targets and finally canons that created artificial singularities that could destroy entire ships, crushing them to a infinitesimal mass in a single shot. It mattered not, because with an entire Empire constantly supplying new warships and warriors, the numbers would win out in the end no matter how they slowed us. Finally, only one system remained. From the intelligence gathered over the course of the long and brutal war, we knew their home system was fairly average. A main-type star, four rocky planets, four gas giants with large lunar systems, an asteroid belt, and several score of various sized planetoids. Most of the system was settled, and the humans were sure to fight harder here than anywhere else. Reinforced by every refugee ship that had been driven before us for all this time. The fleet exited our warp gates in the midsts of the system, where our stellar cartographers said their home planet would be, our engines cycling down for their recharge period. It was a devastating force of over 15,000 ships ready to overwhelm the planet in a single blow. The only thing there was a satellite orbiting the distant sun. There was nothing else in the system. No planets. No asteroids. The only thing our scanners could find were traces of dust and gas where our computers said planets should be in their stable orbits. I turned to my console as a communication signal was picked up from the satellite. It was a message on repeat that made my blood freeze in my veins as I realized just what kind of enemy we had so underestimated for so long. “Since the moment our species met, we have asked you for peaceful coexistence and you have responded with genocide. Every time your fleets appeared above one of our worlds, we would repeat our plea and you would ignored it. We hoped that if we would go far enough away, you would leave us be, but we learned that you would not stop. We knew we could not defeat you with the resources that we had used to expand our race to the starts. That it would take all that we had to end your aggression. What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done. Your stated purpose was to eliminate our race and take what was ours for your own. We will attempt the same and only one will remain when the last enemy falls.” As sensor readings began pouring in, the computer being overwhelmed as the numbers of reactors coming online rose over one million. The largest of the enemy ships, ten times larger than my flagship, and outnumbering it at least 25,000 to 1. Other ships classes were intermixed, including the ships that our forces would see leaving the worlds they arrived to conquer, but each and every ship scanned showed a single common trait: they were all younger than the age of the crusade. Every ship in the armada had been built since our first encounter. As the human ships warp gates began opening all throughout the system’s halo, one more sensor reading caught my attention. The sun at the center of the system was actively losing stability and was going nova. Our ships were to recently out of warp space and those engines wouldn’t be able to recharge in time to escape. The human’s message was still playing in the background and I realized, “What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done,” they meant everything. They were forcing their star to explode to destroy our fleet and were going to retrace our path before spilling into the Empire. I didn’t know if the combined might of our planets could stand against this, but as the distant star began to explode and my subordinates screamed at me for orders, I found I couldn’t bring myself to care.	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	It was at the Preserve Peace Committee meeting that the Radant ambassador rose - standing his full eight feet in height - and Cast the Dorples. The handful of obsidian shards released from his hands assumed the position "Rapid Change - High Energy". Some attendees sitting at the table looked around to see how other species had reacted, but most simply looked down, their postures indicating "Inevitable Sorrow". The poor Humans, so helpful. So helpless. The Radants were warlike, and had accrued their empire by conquest. The Humans were inquisitive, charming, and had built their empire through exploration, and a willingness to work hard to make even sub-par systems viable. The rich empire they now commanded was alas, ripe for the taking by the ever-hungry Radants. The Human ambassador looked carefully at the Dorples, and with one finger, gently nudged one until the bundle of shards shifted into "Contrition, Regret". The Radant barked in contempt. "No placating words will work this time Human, your diplomacy will avail you nothing." The Human ambassador sighed, and assumed the posture "Attend, I Explain". She spoke very softly, so that the other diplomats had to lean in close to hear her words. "Diplomacy does work. And I want to be very clear. When you ask for mercy, we shall hear your plea." The Radant simply glared in response. The Human shifted her posture to "Polite Regret, Imminent Departure". "Please excuse me, I must leave and help my species prepare". She then lifted the shards and Cast the Dorples anew, and then abruptly left. The shards fell into an unfamiliar pattern, that caused some consternation. Those with the subtlety to read the Dorples saw "Total War". What did that mean? Was it one of those idioms that Humans were so fond of? In any case, that was the last time any attendees saw the Human Ambassador Helen Cochrane. When next they saw her, she was General Cochrane, 15th Fleet, Commanding. Her armada consisted of some thirteen hundred Avenger class battle cruisers, a hundred thousand Katana class fighters, and fifty thousand other support vessels, repair ships, mining rigs, and so on. The 15th Fleet was one of over two hundred such fleets, and they had - after many initial setbacks - proved to be the equals of the Radants in battle, and subsequently their masters. The early Radant successes had been against almost unarmed Human vessels, ill-suited to combat, easily beaten. Yet the Humans had flown them anyway, and fought in them. With great sacrifice, they had slowed the Radant invasion just a little. But that was just enough for their newly built shipyards to come on line, and then the Radants had to face the Humans in their newly designed Defender class battle cruisers. This had stopped the Radant invasion entirely. And as the Radant forces waited for reinforcements from home, the Humans had developed their Avenger class ships. And produced them in prodigious numbers. Armed with weapons no one had seen before, of unknown potential, and seemingly invulnerable to Radant Annihilator beams, these new Avenger vessels had swiftly turned the tide of the war. Most of the much-vaunted Radant had been destroyed in a single blow at the Battle of Centauri Reach. The Humans had destroyed Radant outposts, military garrisons, indeed the entire infrastructure of the Radant war machine. So much destruction inspired awe, and in many quarters fear. No one could stand against the Humans, if they chose to make war, so great was their might. Yet in each system, they siphoned off part of their forces to help the Radants rebuild. Most of the Human forces were now scattered throughout Radant space, rebuilding space ports and solar harvesters, helping ordinary Radants rebuild their lives. And now the Humans were on Radant itself, meeting a peace delegation. General Cochrane approached the table where the Radant delegates sat. She took a velvet pouch from her pocket, and withdrew the shards within, and with great precision, she Cast the Dorples. They clattered on the table and assumed "Tempest, Destruction". One of the Radants gingerly reached out, and nudged a shard. The small pile shifted, and assumed "Desperation, Repentance". Cochrane paused and with a single tap, the shards now read "Watchful Benevolence". "War is a crime, and the ones who forced it upon us will pay, and justice shall be their lot. But let us turn our thoughts to peace, now." The Radants eagerly accepted the terms offered, and after a few years of Human rule, had once again become self-governing. The human fleet still existed, but had been de-militarised, and now most of it was in civilian hands, used as transport vessels, mining rigs, energy harvesters, and what have you. Did you know that you can still get surplus Human Katana fighters? They make great gas giant skimmers at a cost that is hard to beat. I think I know now what "Total War" means.	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Torus took his seat at the table, one of 11 identical seats. As he glanced around the circle, his upper mouth twisted into a frown. Typically, the ten representatives of the Federation took joy in subtly outdoing one another at their meetings. This human insistance on identical seats set at a round table was perplexing. The way of the Federation was simple. Ten species ruled coequally. Other species joined as clients. To join, they accepted the extermination of two thirds of their species. The remainder took their rightful place in breeding programs, coupled with overhaul of industry and agriculture. This ensured the continued prosperity of the Federation. Occasionally, some future clients proved troublesome. For them, the Federation had the Ru'a. Kronan scientists discovered the Ru'a early on. A primitive species, but perfect for genetic modification. Now, all Ru'a we're clones. There were no females. Missing proteins in their cells ensured they depended on the Federation for survival. When needed, entire armies could be grown. When the Federation was finished with them, they thrown away. Few Ru'a survived past the age of 5. Torus looked up, gratefully, at his Ru'a guards. The humans had no idea what was coming for them. A door on the other side of the chamber opened and the human diplomat seated himself at the table. These diplomats - the humans thought they could talk their way out of their fate. Some suspected they even thought to secure full representation for themselves. Ridiculous! The human spoke, "We have reviewed the terms of Federation membership and, I apologize, but we do not find them acceptable. While your Federation is certainly a powerful force, we would prefer to take things a little slower. I am sure that, one day, we may sit together as friends, but for now, perhaps we should focus on building some preliminary trade agreements. There are many possibilities -" The human was interrupted by a fist banging on the table. Kruathanan, of the Ghorsh, never took kindly to resistance. "Silence, human," he hissed, "You talk and you talk. You wear your diplomacy like a cloak of protection, thinking it will keep you safe. Nothing can save you." The human stared at Ghorsh. At first, Torus thought he was frightened. After a few moments, he checked his timepiece and it became clear that he was merely thinking. Again, he spoke, "You are all so mighty. Nothing can match you for speed or strength. Your lives are counted in centuries. We humans are different. Like your Ru'a, every day is a struggle to survive. Our lives are short. Death stands over us, every moment of every day." "When Death stands over you, you can do one of three things. You can fight it, which is ultimately-" "-futile." Torus turned to his guard in surprise. All of the Ru'a seemed to have become oddly intent. There was an edge to them that Torus had never seen before. The human didn't seem surprised at all. "Exactly, thank you. The second choice is to run from it. We had a poet who once wrote, because I would not stop for Death, Death kindly stopped for me. You cannot outrun Death." The Ru'a all chuckled. Torus didn't know they even had a sense of humor. "The third option is to make Death your friend and companion. To learn from Death. To allow Death to make you wise. We have learned much. Patience. Forgiveness." He turned to look, again, at Ghorsh. "You think we engage in diplomacy, to wear this cloak, to protect ourselves? No, we wear it to protect you. In times of trouble. Kronans can turn to their intellect. Kruathanan can turn to their strength." He nodded at Torus, "The Tun can rely on their cunning. We humans have only Death. We can be your friend, or we can kill you all. I'm afraid there is no middle ground." He glanced at his timepiece. "I'm sorry, this is taking longer than I thought. We will not mire ourselves in generations of war, and we most certainly will not accede to your demands. If you will not be our friends, then know that Death is coming." He nodded towards the Ru'a. "These brave men are like us. They live with Death. But unlike them, we have not been made small by false gods. You sit with us at this table because you think you have taken the measure of our resistance. This is merely the beginning." Ghorsh, fool that he was, began bellowing all of the things he planned to do to the human diplomat. There were threats about eating his heart while he still lived. Something about burning the diplomats family alive. The diplomat looked... bored. During a pause for breath the diplomat interjected, "You think I made an empty threat. Make no mistake, Death is coming for you. Every one of you has a weakness. The Kruathanan atmosphere, for instance, is very fickle. It doesn't take much to turn it against you." He checked his timepiece again. "Approximately 3 minutes ago, a Terran raiding vessel was likely destroyed by your planetary defenses. Before destruction it released a compound into your atmosphere. By now, your sky is beginning to darken. In a few hours, your people will have suffocated." The color drained from Ghorsh's face. He began to rise from the table, but a sharp crack sent him slumping to the floor, tail twitching. One of his Ru'a guards had broken his neck. The other representatives were, likewise, dispatched. Torus found himself awash in pain as his head hit the table. The guard had snapped his first and second neck, but missed the third. He could only watch in agony as the Ru'a pledged themselves to the humans and watch in disbelief as the humans pledged to find a way to free the Ru'a from their enslavement. He listened to them as they planned their conquest, to free all the client worlds of the Federation and reforge it anew. One of the Ru'a noticed him watching. The last thing Torus heard was the snapping of his third neck.	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Admiral. A title relegated to the best of Naval Officers, a true leader. Farragut. Porter. Dewey. Fletcher. King. Nimitz. Kinkaid. Halsey. Spruance. Burke. The greatest Navy men in the United States, or so I have been told. In the Navy, it is one of the highest ranks one can attain. To be an Admiral is a great honor. So why do I not feel honored to take this position? Of course, I know why. I am in no way the intended person for this role. A traitor to my homeland, a deserter of my Legion, a guerrilla naval specialist, a "Tin Can Captain". And most importantly, a Krai-toln. The very ruling race of the Empire that Humanity is set on fighting. I know I have earned my title. My list of awards given by the Navy is long and impressive; the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroic Actions at the Battle of Mars, two Purple Hearts, one for the Battle of Sirius and one for Operation 'Achy Breaky Heart', the Navy Cross, the E. E. Evans 'Last Stand' Award for Actions at the Battle of Bernard's Star, and many more lesser awards. I know I do not belong here - yet, everyone says I do. Humans are the nicest, yet most terrifying race I have ever met. The closest phrase I can think of to describe Humanity is "Dignified Indignity", and that goes for their warfare, too. Where the Krai-toln uses lasers and electromagnetic pulses, the Humans use ballistics and atom-splitters. It is a totally indignant form of warfare, yet, under a orderly, calm mask of dignity. Yet, there is one form of warfare where Humanity is completely and utterly dignified, and would not dare stray into indignity: diplomacy. I have read of situations, misunderstandings, that back in the Empire would've been a declaration of War. Yet, as the young man tasked with bringing me 'up to speed' with history said, "cooler heads prevailed." I will say, there are no 'cooler heads' in the Kraii Empire. It is a nation of pure war, built to do nothing but destroy and assimilate. As much as I hate to say it, the Krai-toln people are much the same, told by their dictators what to think, what to say, and who to fight to gain "glory and power". I did not even know about the death statistics for Kraii Legionaries until I fled to the side of the Humans, into the arms of the US Navy, where they documented every kill and mourned every loss; a completely unheard of tradition in the Kraii Empire, at least under the current regime. 78.62% of all Kraii Legionaries sent into battle do not come back alive. Of that 21.38%, another \~20% are killed upon return to their commanding officers, being deemed either too damaged to be useful to the War Effort or being a failure to the Kraii Nation for having fled battle, even if that battle was already over. The 1-or-so percentage left alive are commanding officers, sons of rulers or commanding officers, or those rich enough to purchase the ability to fight another day. It is clear to me that a total war to Humans is a completely different thing to a Kraii "Always War". A human total war is a complete mobilization of a nation to defeat an enemy, temporarily expanding the armed forces to a massive extent with those willing to fight against those who have wronged the homeland they love. It is a last step along a path of diplomacy, a final option if all else fails. A Kraii "Always War" - the "Ker-to-wesyllison" - is a permanent state. All citizens must fight, make goods for the fight, or command the fight. Those who cannot are exterminated. There is no place for diplomacy, no place for peace, no place for health, only fighting and dying. It is really no wonder, then, that the Humans are the ones winning the war. Should a Human return from a battle injured, he is not killed, nor is he a failure. He is a hero, and is treated as such. What with the Kraii would be a practice only reserved for those at the very top of the command chain is common place with the Humans. It is amazing; for all my time in the Kraii Legions, I never once saw a medic. Here, it seems there is one around every corner, seeking people to help. A profession built on sympathy. And that is what separates Humanity from the Kraii Empire: Sympathy. One cannot heal, negotiate, learn from, or otherwise treat another being as an equal without some degree of sympathy. It seems to be a trait ingrained in humans, a natural response to any interaction, good or bad. It is even seen as a mental illness to not have any sympathy for other beings. This is far removed from the Kraii of today. I suspect we used to have ingrained sympathy; landmarks such as the Monument to Unity in the very heart of the capitol of the Empire attest to a much more Human-like past. However, any sign of this in today's Krai-toln soldiers is sadly uncommon. It is still there, shining to the surface in some occasions, even leading to defections such as mine. For most Krai-toln, though, sympathy is missing, bred out by their leaders to create a race of near-perfect warriors. Their near-perfect warriors are faltering. A human shot by a Krai-toln will most likely be healed and back in action within the month; a Krai-toln shot by a human and not rescued by humans will be most surely dead, left to die by the very government he fights for. Destroyed human supplies will be replaced by the end of the day by the hard-working men and women giving their all in the factories; destroyed Kraii supplies are only replaced when living workers can be found, the workers who made the previous supplies having already been killed for some minor mistake their government found intolerable. We will win this Total War, because for Humanity, and for it's allies, for those who believe in freedom, liberty, and individuality, war is temporary. Mistakes are forgivable. Sympathy is given to those who need it. And that is why, today, I stand here and accept the role of Admiral in the United States Navy. Not because it is what I deserve. Not because it is what my commanders declare. No, I accept this role because I truly believe in the ways of humanity, of sympathy, of diplomacy before war, of temporary war. I have seen what a total destruction of sympathy and diplomacy can do. I have seen the results of an "Always War". And I never wish to witness it again, and I shall do my best with the power I have been given to make sure an "Always War" is never allowed to occur again. I encourage all of you to do the same. -Admiral Jrell Vohanne Kelard-Synn, United States Navy "The Grand Acceptance Speech" - Given Aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, Docked at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, November 11, 2089 (Still an amateur at this - give constructive criticism, please! I am looking for all ways to improve!)	Most species we would call warlike never make it to the stars. Those with the need to destory, willingness to kill and die, it's not a viable life plan. Humans we had encounterd at the edge of Solar System Gamma-Phi in the Virgo Cluster. They seemed so fearfull then, instantly scared of us and what we could do to their smaller vessel. How were we to know that man saw us as something like themselves? Man avoids war because they are so good at it that emplying war against themselves would have resulted in total destruction, as it did with so many other destructive species. Our people think the same of course, but we never got good at it. We though we did, then we forced the humans hands, we asked too much, we attacked them thinking we were safe. I write this missive in stone, knowing only a human will read it. Knowing that my people die, and all we had befriended will die too. Humans are monsters even to themselves, they are eager to obliterate, yet will try everything they can to avoid giving in to their temptation.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The expansion into the Sol system was supposed to be the latest iteration in a pattern I had repeated dozens of times across my career. for civilisations falling just below type I, we would initiate first contact, and demand vassalisation. seventy five percent of all civilisations we encountered stopped at this step, in face of our overwhelming technological superiority it was the logical choice. The remaining twenty five mounted a quick but often bloodless defence, followed by an honorable surrender and assecsion to the empire. The humans of Earth returned our ambassador flayed and mutilated. The humans, who up until our arrival had been at each other's throats owing to petty tribalism and coveting each other's natural resources united virtually overnight against us. Nearly every object they produced was hastily retooled into a weapon of war. When we expended their supply of military atmospheric craft, they turned to crashing civillian transports laden with chemical explosives into our installations. The closer we came to defeating them, the more brutal they became. They hurled chemicals of crude noxious gasses at our soldiers, scorching their repsiratory organs. Platoons of soldiers that surrendered en-masse turned out to be infected with a genetically engineered plague tailored for our biology. Children approached our armored columns, seemingly out of curiosity, which we had seen before. Except these children had explosive vests hidden under their coats, remote triggered by a vengeful parent hiding in rubble nearby. We had been begrudgingly compared to "Romans" by more cooperative humans, refering to an ancient power that while imperialist, maintained a strong sense of professionalism and discipline. Yet in the face of such a brutal enemy, the discipline our combat units, trained for dozens of human years and battlehardened from dozens more of interplanetary campaigns began to break down. Twitchy commanders, suffering from a mental illness we had never seen, yet humans easily diagnosed as "post traumatic stress syndrome" soon gunned down approaching humans on sight, and prisoners were seldom taken. All this only had the effect of intensifying humanity's burning hatred for our empire. What should have taken less than half of their years instead took a decade, and four armies worth of reinforcements. Finally, we had reduced their regular militaries to haggard fanatics hiding in subterranean bunkers across the planet. Yet just before we breached the final bunker containing their leadership, and remaining military infrastructure, the leadership activated a network of missiles containing fusion warheads, hidden in previously unencountered submersible vehicles scattered across their oceans. If we couldn't have earth, nobody could. These missiles were not powerful enough to even make orbit around their planet, much less strike our staging bases on their moon. This told us that the humans had built such a destructive weapons system not for use on us, but on each other. The results of the campaign had a traumatic effect not only on our soldiers, but the entire empire. The value of earth was it's breathable atmosphere, a perfect target for colonisation. Yet in the push of a button, humans made a decade of war, the deaths of hundreds of millions of our soldiers, and quintillions of credits meaningless. We evacuated and quarantined Earth, and the entire system was seen as effectively haunted. I never saw another human again after their species' self immolation. Yet I remain haunted by one thought: If even a dozen breeding pairs of humans were to survive and persist, then our civilisation is in mortal danger. Their children would grow up in caves with respirator masks permanantly affixed to their heads, hearing tales of burning hatred, consecrating themselves as avatars of vengence before they could read. Even if it took a thousand years, they would crawl groaning and screaming out of the ashes until they could stand, and they would not sit until vengence for our crimes against their ancestors had been extracted ten times over.	From the chornicles of the last days of Etheria, Author unknown: We are not going to win this war. Nobody could win this. We have to end it, to surrender, to run, to do something but we can not win. At first everything was going fine for us. We were winning battles, every battle. Nothing they did could stop us. And in our victories we became cruel and evil. We really left them no choice. What else could they have done? Wait for their extinction? Desperate times lead to desperate measures and we made them so very desperate. The first stories started to be whispered in the third year of the war. I thought it were ghost stories. We were, at most, one year away from completely wiping them from the face of the galaxy. Of course they would try to spread propaganda to make us slow down. That was, until I saw it myself. It wasn't all of them. Maybe 1 in 5000. Maybe less, maybe more. But those few, they had done something to them. They wouldn't die anymore. I shot him. I know I shot him. Square in the center of the chest. And he fell. I saw the blood on the ground but then he got back up. He just got back up and kept coming. And I shot him again. And he got back up. In the end, he got hit by an explosion. With enough damage they don't come back. But he killed dozens of ours before. I am sure they feel the pain. I heard them scream as they are hit and when we managed to capture one and experiment on him he even cried. They feel the pain but they don't slow down and they do not stop...and they learn. What type of species does that to themselves? What type of species turns themselves into monsters? And what type of people will keep running head on into death over and over again? We call them "the numbers" now. Each one of them has a number written on their shoulder, the number of deaths they faced. Last week I saw one attacking a fortified position. 50 of our people inside, one of him. His number was 378. He learned from 378 mistakes. He had the experience of 378 deaths and probably taken 20 times that number of lives. Even if we had a reliable way to kill them, we couldn't stop them. This one didn't even get shot once in that assault. He just went through our defenders like they were sheep being slaughtered. But that's not even the worst thing. 1 in 5000, we could deal with. it's not that many. Heavy caliber shots to the head or explosions work. Maybe we would have to sacrifice some of our men but we could do it. But the humans rallied behind the numbers. With hope came the will to fight and with that every man and woman became a warrior, all with the same determination as the numbers. Those who can't die lead those who aren't afraid to. Those who can't fight anymore work to make weapons for those who can. Their entire species has turned themselves into a war machine. They fight, they train, they build. They do not stop. That first time I saw a number is now 7 years ago. The tide of the war has shifted long ago. I can't even remember the last time I heard about a victory on our side. That battle 6 months ago where they retreated after having killed 5 times as many of us as we killed of them? Should we call that a victory? We pulled all we had together for that fight and they retreated, regrouped, hit our unguarded flanks and broke our line the next day. Nobody who "won" that battle ever left the site of it. They encircled them and killed them all. Our leadership still hopes they can win. They hope some new technology or new allies will turn the tide of battle. It wont. Nothing can stop people like that. We have made a terrible mistake. We thought they wanted peace because they were afraid of fighting. That wasn't true. They wanted peace because they were afraid of what fighting again would turn them into. They knew that, deep down, they were warriors and monsters. They were afraid to ever let that side of them out again. I can only pray that they will forgive us this mistake. That they will want to be those good peaceful people again. Because we can not stop them. Only they can stop themselves. And if they do not want to, I am certain that the Etherian Empire will only live on in history books. If you ever read those words and find the humans to be a peaceful people who strive for diplomacy and friendship with all species, understand that this is their decision, not their nature. And if you make them abandon that choice, you will face a storm that you can't imagine. I can hear the sirens now. I need to get back to my post. They have already taken the access road and the second post yesterday. We have set up defensive positions but I don't think they will hold. But I will go out, I will man my station. I will fight like they do, without fear. I can hear the sirens. Our positions won't hold.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	The expansion into the Sol system was supposed to be the latest iteration in a pattern I had repeated dozens of times across my career. for civilisations falling just below type I, we would initiate first contact, and demand vassalisation. seventy five percent of all civilisations we encountered stopped at this step, in face of our overwhelming technological superiority it was the logical choice. The remaining twenty five mounted a quick but often bloodless defence, followed by an honorable surrender and assecsion to the empire. The humans of Earth returned our ambassador flayed and mutilated. The humans, who up until our arrival had been at each other's throats owing to petty tribalism and coveting each other's natural resources united virtually overnight against us. Nearly every object they produced was hastily retooled into a weapon of war. When we expended their supply of military atmospheric craft, they turned to crashing civillian transports laden with chemical explosives into our installations. The closer we came to defeating them, the more brutal they became. They hurled chemicals of crude noxious gasses at our soldiers, scorching their repsiratory organs. Platoons of soldiers that surrendered en-masse turned out to be infected with a genetically engineered plague tailored for our biology. Children approached our armored columns, seemingly out of curiosity, which we had seen before. Except these children had explosive vests hidden under their coats, remote triggered by a vengeful parent hiding in rubble nearby. We had been begrudgingly compared to "Romans" by more cooperative humans, refering to an ancient power that while imperialist, maintained a strong sense of professionalism and discipline. Yet in the face of such a brutal enemy, the discipline our combat units, trained for dozens of human years and battlehardened from dozens more of interplanetary campaigns began to break down. Twitchy commanders, suffering from a mental illness we had never seen, yet humans easily diagnosed as "post traumatic stress syndrome" soon gunned down approaching humans on sight, and prisoners were seldom taken. All this only had the effect of intensifying humanity's burning hatred for our empire. What should have taken less than half of their years instead took a decade, and four armies worth of reinforcements. Finally, we had reduced their regular militaries to haggard fanatics hiding in subterranean bunkers across the planet. Yet just before we breached the final bunker containing their leadership, and remaining military infrastructure, the leadership activated a network of missiles containing fusion warheads, hidden in previously unencountered submersible vehicles scattered across their oceans. If we couldn't have earth, nobody could. These missiles were not powerful enough to even make orbit around their planet, much less strike our staging bases on their moon. This told us that the humans had built such a destructive weapons system not for use on us, but on each other. The results of the campaign had a traumatic effect not only on our soldiers, but the entire empire. The value of earth was it's breathable atmosphere, a perfect target for colonisation. Yet in the push of a button, humans made a decade of war, the deaths of hundreds of millions of our soldiers, and quintillions of credits meaningless. We evacuated and quarantined Earth, and the entire system was seen as effectively haunted. I never saw another human again after their species' self immolation. Yet I remain haunted by one thought: If even a dozen breeding pairs of humans were to survive and persist, then our civilisation is in mortal danger. Their children would grow up in caves with respirator masks permanantly affixed to their heads, hearing tales of burning hatred, consecrating themselves as avatars of vengence before they could read. Even if it took a thousand years, they would crawl groaning and screaming out of the ashes until they could stand, and they would not sit until vengence for our crimes against their ancestors had been extracted ten times over.	We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We should have realized, should have listen, when Ensign Blaagk , played that recording he found from Earth's History. "It is our Love of Nation , our way of life , of those we serve side by side with. We Defend we Avenge, we sacrifice, we bleed, and we are willing to Die for this unique creation. We Have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you kno whats good for you. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down. We seen war, we don't want WAR. But if you Want WAR, there is one thing I can promise you, someone else will raise your sons and daughters." All at high command thought this to be a comedy broadcast of forgotten ages. It was soo funny how tough the Humans were acting on the show. It must not be real. Or so High Command believed. When the first wave of landing ships touchdown on the planet. The troops spilled out onto the open fields, still no humans there to meet them and bow down to our might. But when our troops marched away from the drop ships. That is when All Hell Broke Loose. The drop ships came under direct attack. within 30 minutes the Humans had captured all the drop ships. In 3 hours our own drop ships were heading into orbit and began attacking the mother ship. Painted on the sides of all drop ships "TOTAL WAR" Our ground troops had been ambushed several miles away from each landing site. The Humans had been hiding, in trees, under ground, in buildings, they dressed themselves like bushes, like rocks. Bombs, Bullets, Mortars, Rockets, Missiles slammed into our ground forces from every direction. Our troops had No time to get into formation, to get their kill ranks and squads formed up before the Humans cut them down. And cut our troops apart they did. Near one Landing site, Black clad small men with curved shiny blades dropped out of trees and cut our troops in half. Our comms channels was blocked by a Human saying repeating over and over, "Cry Havoc, and Loose the Dogs of WAR!" We Never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them The Mother ship has crashed into their planet, shield are down, all defenses are down, the crew is fighting compartment to compartment to try and hold the Humans back while they try and fix the interstellar emergency be-can. But the Humans destroyed the array in the first strike, and as soon as they breached the hull the made their way to command deck and executed all the officers there, by cutting their heads off, so the entire crew could see over vid screen. They then seized engineering and crashed the ship on purpose. There are Humans all over the ship. Those that are not fighting and killing the crew are stealing everything they can get their hands on. I am hiding in a escape pod , watching the monitor screens, Lt. Blaagk last living officer of Earth Invasion Fleet.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Torus took his seat at the table, one of 11 identical seats. As he glanced around the circle, his upper mouth twisted into a frown. Typically, the ten representatives of the Federation took joy in subtly outdoing one another at their meetings. This human insistance on identical seats set at a round table was perplexing. The way of the Federation was simple. Ten species ruled coequally. Other species joined as clients. To join, they accepted the extermination of two thirds of their species. The remainder took their rightful place in breeding programs, coupled with overhaul of industry and agriculture. This ensured the continued prosperity of the Federation. Occasionally, some future clients proved troublesome. For them, the Federation had the Ru'a. Kronan scientists discovered the Ru'a early on. A primitive species, but perfect for genetic modification. Now, all Ru'a we're clones. There were no females. Missing proteins in their cells ensured they depended on the Federation for survival. When needed, entire armies could be grown. When the Federation was finished with them, they thrown away. Few Ru'a survived past the age of 5. Torus looked up, gratefully, at his Ru'a guards. The humans had no idea what was coming for them. A door on the other side of the chamber opened and the human diplomat seated himself at the table. These diplomats - the humans thought they could talk their way out of their fate. Some suspected they even thought to secure full representation for themselves. Ridiculous! The human spoke, "We have reviewed the terms of Federation membership and, I apologize, but we do not find them acceptable. While your Federation is certainly a powerful force, we would prefer to take things a little slower. I am sure that, one day, we may sit together as friends, but for now, perhaps we should focus on building some preliminary trade agreements. There are many possibilities -" The human was interrupted by a fist banging on the table. Kruathanan, of the Ghorsh, never took kindly to resistance. "Silence, human," he hissed, "You talk and you talk. You wear your diplomacy like a cloak of protection, thinking it will keep you safe. Nothing can save you." The human stared at Ghorsh. At first, Torus thought he was frightened. After a few moments, he checked his timepiece and it became clear that he was merely thinking. Again, he spoke, "You are all so mighty. Nothing can match you for speed or strength. Your lives are counted in centuries. We humans are different. Like your Ru'a, every day is a struggle to survive. Our lives are short. Death stands over us, every moment of every day." "When Death stands over you, you can do one of three things. You can fight it, which is ultimately-" "-futile." Torus turned to his guard in surprise. All of the Ru'a seemed to have become oddly intent. There was an edge to them that Torus had never seen before. The human didn't seem surprised at all. "Exactly, thank you. The second choice is to run from it. We had a poet who once wrote, because I would not stop for Death, Death kindly stopped for me. You cannot outrun Death." The Ru'a all chuckled. Torus didn't know they even had a sense of humor. "The third option is to make Death your friend and companion. To learn from Death. To allow Death to make you wise. We have learned much. Patience. Forgiveness." He turned to look, again, at Ghorsh. "You think we engage in diplomacy, to wear this cloak, to protect ourselves? No, we wear it to protect you. In times of trouble. Kronans can turn to their intellect. Kruathanan can turn to their strength." He nodded at Torus, "The Tun can rely on their cunning. We humans have only Death. We can be your friend, or we can kill you all. I'm afraid there is no middle ground." He glanced at his timepiece. "I'm sorry, this is taking longer than I thought. We will not mire ourselves in generations of war, and we most certainly will not accede to your demands. If you will not be our friends, then know that Death is coming." He nodded towards the Ru'a. "These brave men are like us. They live with Death. But unlike them, we have not been made small by false gods. You sit with us at this table because you think you have taken the measure of our resistance. This is merely the beginning." Ghorsh, fool that he was, began bellowing all of the things he planned to do to the human diplomat. There were threats about eating his heart while he still lived. Something about burning the diplomats family alive. The diplomat looked... bored. During a pause for breath the diplomat interjected, "You think I made an empty threat. Make no mistake, Death is coming for you. Every one of you has a weakness. The Kruathanan atmosphere, for instance, is very fickle. It doesn't take much to turn it against you." He checked his timepiece again. "Approximately 3 minutes ago, a Terran raiding vessel was likely destroyed by your planetary defenses. Before destruction it released a compound into your atmosphere. By now, your sky is beginning to darken. In a few hours, your people will have suffocated." The color drained from Ghorsh's face. He began to rise from the table, but a sharp crack sent him slumping to the floor, tail twitching. One of his Ru'a guards had broken his neck. The other representatives were, likewise, dispatched. Torus found himself awash in pain as his head hit the table. The guard had snapped his first and second neck, but missed the third. He could only watch in agony as the Ru'a pledged themselves to the humans and watch in disbelief as the humans pledged to find a way to free the Ru'a from their enslavement. He listened to them as they planned their conquest, to free all the client worlds of the Federation and reforge it anew. One of the Ru'a noticed him watching. The last thing Torus heard was the snapping of his third neck.	As the fleet began final approach to the human’s home system, I can’t help but to think how the finale of decades of war originally started. The specie’s sin, as countless others have been, was intruding on our space. The Imperium cared nothing for reckless exploration and expansion, finding a safe path through the wilds of interstellar space was too dangerous for such reckless risks. But, if a xenos species was to stumble into our territory, it was nothing to follow their path back to a habitual world. In these eventualities, the High Council would raise an conquest force, drawn from all worlds, and continued to do so until all trace of the race was erased from existence. Then, and only then, would the conquerors be disbanded and settled on those worlds they had taken. The first encounter with the humans had proven them unsuitable to existence. Any animal will fight to protect itself, but the first of their species taken claimed that they have moved past such things. A laughable concept and they were the first of the vermin exterminated. Like every other time in the ages past, a fleet was being assembled. But, before it could be launched, another human vessel violated our space. Those on board claimed they were envoys of peace and only wanted to find a way to coexist with us. No reply was sent except the ion trails of our weapons penetrating their ship’s hull. The first worlds fell easily. They had defenses, true, even warships in orbit, but chronological scans showed the youngest was built a hundred years ago. As the fleet pushed deeper in their territory, the gravitational residue of their warp drives making easily followed paths through space, the worlds became harder to defeat. The warships remained old, the only recent construction found in the orbital shipyards were passenger ships, constructed in an attempt to evacuate the populations. Most of the time the only sightings of these ships was their engines pushing them into recently opened warp portals as they fled. The remaining ships and population fighting to the last in defense of their worlds. It was strange, though. Even though the warships kept getting older the further we went, their offensive capabilities improved with each engagement. What began as antiquated atomic weapons with chemical propulsion evolved to rail weapons launching high density loads at .99c. After years, we began to fight in engagements with ships wielding weapons that broke down the molecular bonds of their targets and finally canons that created artificial singularities that could destroy entire ships, crushing them to a infinitesimal mass in a single shot. It mattered not, because with an entire Empire constantly supplying new warships and warriors, the numbers would win out in the end no matter how they slowed us. Finally, only one system remained. From the intelligence gathered over the course of the long and brutal war, we knew their home system was fairly average. A main-type star, four rocky planets, four gas giants with large lunar systems, an asteroid belt, and several score of various sized planetoids. Most of the system was settled, and the humans were sure to fight harder here than anywhere else. Reinforced by every refugee ship that had been driven before us for all this time. The fleet exited our warp gates in the midsts of the system, where our stellar cartographers said their home planet would be, our engines cycling down for their recharge period. It was a devastating force of over 15,000 ships ready to overwhelm the planet in a single blow. The only thing there was a satellite orbiting the distant sun. There was nothing else in the system. No planets. No asteroids. The only thing our scanners could find were traces of dust and gas where our computers said planets should be in their stable orbits. I turned to my console as a communication signal was picked up from the satellite. It was a message on repeat that made my blood freeze in my veins as I realized just what kind of enemy we had so underestimated for so long. “Since the moment our species met, we have asked you for peaceful coexistence and you have responded with genocide. Every time your fleets appeared above one of our worlds, we would repeat our plea and you would ignored it. We hoped that if we would go far enough away, you would leave us be, but we learned that you would not stop. We knew we could not defeat you with the resources that we had used to expand our race to the starts. That it would take all that we had to end your aggression. What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done. Your stated purpose was to eliminate our race and take what was ours for your own. We will attempt the same and only one will remain when the last enemy falls.” As sensor readings began pouring in, the computer being overwhelmed as the numbers of reactors coming online rose over one million. The largest of the enemy ships, ten times larger than my flagship, and outnumbering it at least 25,000 to 1. Other ships classes were intermixed, including the ships that our forces would see leaving the worlds they arrived to conquer, but each and every ship scanned showed a single common trait: they were all younger than the age of the crusade. Every ship in the armada had been built since our first encounter. As the human ships warp gates began opening all throughout the system’s halo, one more sensor reading caught my attention. The sun at the center of the system was actively losing stability and was going nova. Our ships were to recently out of warp space and those engines wouldn’t be able to recharge in time to escape. The human’s message was still playing in the background and I realized, “What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done,” they meant everything. They were forcing their star to explode to destroy our fleet and were going to retrace our path before spilling into the Empire. I didn’t know if the combined might of our planets could stand against this, but as the distant star began to explode and my subordinates screamed at me for orders, I found I couldn’t bring myself to care.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Admiral. A title relegated to the best of Naval Officers, a true leader. Farragut. Porter. Dewey. Fletcher. King. Nimitz. Kinkaid. Halsey. Spruance. Burke. The greatest Navy men in the United States, or so I have been told. In the Navy, it is one of the highest ranks one can attain. To be an Admiral is a great honor. So why do I not feel honored to take this position? Of course, I know why. I am in no way the intended person for this role. A traitor to my homeland, a deserter of my Legion, a guerrilla naval specialist, a "Tin Can Captain". And most importantly, a Krai-toln. The very ruling race of the Empire that Humanity is set on fighting. I know I have earned my title. My list of awards given by the Navy is long and impressive; the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroic Actions at the Battle of Mars, two Purple Hearts, one for the Battle of Sirius and one for Operation 'Achy Breaky Heart', the Navy Cross, the E. E. Evans 'Last Stand' Award for Actions at the Battle of Bernard's Star, and many more lesser awards. I know I do not belong here - yet, everyone says I do. Humans are the nicest, yet most terrifying race I have ever met. The closest phrase I can think of to describe Humanity is "Dignified Indignity", and that goes for their warfare, too. Where the Krai-toln uses lasers and electromagnetic pulses, the Humans use ballistics and atom-splitters. It is a totally indignant form of warfare, yet, under a orderly, calm mask of dignity. Yet, there is one form of warfare where Humanity is completely and utterly dignified, and would not dare stray into indignity: diplomacy. I have read of situations, misunderstandings, that back in the Empire would've been a declaration of War. Yet, as the young man tasked with bringing me 'up to speed' with history said, "cooler heads prevailed." I will say, there are no 'cooler heads' in the Kraii Empire. It is a nation of pure war, built to do nothing but destroy and assimilate. As much as I hate to say it, the Krai-toln people are much the same, told by their dictators what to think, what to say, and who to fight to gain "glory and power". I did not even know about the death statistics for Kraii Legionaries until I fled to the side of the Humans, into the arms of the US Navy, where they documented every kill and mourned every loss; a completely unheard of tradition in the Kraii Empire, at least under the current regime. 78.62% of all Kraii Legionaries sent into battle do not come back alive. Of that 21.38%, another \~20% are killed upon return to their commanding officers, being deemed either too damaged to be useful to the War Effort or being a failure to the Kraii Nation for having fled battle, even if that battle was already over. The 1-or-so percentage left alive are commanding officers, sons of rulers or commanding officers, or those rich enough to purchase the ability to fight another day. It is clear to me that a total war to Humans is a completely different thing to a Kraii "Always War". A human total war is a complete mobilization of a nation to defeat an enemy, temporarily expanding the armed forces to a massive extent with those willing to fight against those who have wronged the homeland they love. It is a last step along a path of diplomacy, a final option if all else fails. A Kraii "Always War" - the "Ker-to-wesyllison" - is a permanent state. All citizens must fight, make goods for the fight, or command the fight. Those who cannot are exterminated. There is no place for diplomacy, no place for peace, no place for health, only fighting and dying. It is really no wonder, then, that the Humans are the ones winning the war. Should a Human return from a battle injured, he is not killed, nor is he a failure. He is a hero, and is treated as such. What with the Kraii would be a practice only reserved for those at the very top of the command chain is common place with the Humans. It is amazing; for all my time in the Kraii Legions, I never once saw a medic. Here, it seems there is one around every corner, seeking people to help. A profession built on sympathy. And that is what separates Humanity from the Kraii Empire: Sympathy. One cannot heal, negotiate, learn from, or otherwise treat another being as an equal without some degree of sympathy. It seems to be a trait ingrained in humans, a natural response to any interaction, good or bad. It is even seen as a mental illness to not have any sympathy for other beings. This is far removed from the Kraii of today. I suspect we used to have ingrained sympathy; landmarks such as the Monument to Unity in the very heart of the capitol of the Empire attest to a much more Human-like past. However, any sign of this in today's Krai-toln soldiers is sadly uncommon. It is still there, shining to the surface in some occasions, even leading to defections such as mine. For most Krai-toln, though, sympathy is missing, bred out by their leaders to create a race of near-perfect warriors. Their near-perfect warriors are faltering. A human shot by a Krai-toln will most likely be healed and back in action within the month; a Krai-toln shot by a human and not rescued by humans will be most surely dead, left to die by the very government he fights for. Destroyed human supplies will be replaced by the end of the day by the hard-working men and women giving their all in the factories; destroyed Kraii supplies are only replaced when living workers can be found, the workers who made the previous supplies having already been killed for some minor mistake their government found intolerable. We will win this Total War, because for Humanity, and for it's allies, for those who believe in freedom, liberty, and individuality, war is temporary. Mistakes are forgivable. Sympathy is given to those who need it. And that is why, today, I stand here and accept the role of Admiral in the United States Navy. Not because it is what I deserve. Not because it is what my commanders declare. No, I accept this role because I truly believe in the ways of humanity, of sympathy, of diplomacy before war, of temporary war. I have seen what a total destruction of sympathy and diplomacy can do. I have seen the results of an "Always War". And I never wish to witness it again, and I shall do my best with the power I have been given to make sure an "Always War" is never allowed to occur again. I encourage all of you to do the same. -Admiral Jrell Vohanne Kelard-Synn, United States Navy "The Grand Acceptance Speech" - Given Aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, Docked at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, November 11, 2089 (Still an amateur at this - give constructive criticism, please! I am looking for all ways to improve!)	As the fleet began final approach to the human’s home system, I can’t help but to think how the finale of decades of war originally started. The specie’s sin, as countless others have been, was intruding on our space. The Imperium cared nothing for reckless exploration and expansion, finding a safe path through the wilds of interstellar space was too dangerous for such reckless risks. But, if a xenos species was to stumble into our territory, it was nothing to follow their path back to a habitual world. In these eventualities, the High Council would raise an conquest force, drawn from all worlds, and continued to do so until all trace of the race was erased from existence. Then, and only then, would the conquerors be disbanded and settled on those worlds they had taken. The first encounter with the humans had proven them unsuitable to existence. Any animal will fight to protect itself, but the first of their species taken claimed that they have moved past such things. A laughable concept and they were the first of the vermin exterminated. Like every other time in the ages past, a fleet was being assembled. But, before it could be launched, another human vessel violated our space. Those on board claimed they were envoys of peace and only wanted to find a way to coexist with us. No reply was sent except the ion trails of our weapons penetrating their ship’s hull. The first worlds fell easily. They had defenses, true, even warships in orbit, but chronological scans showed the youngest was built a hundred years ago. As the fleet pushed deeper in their territory, the gravitational residue of their warp drives making easily followed paths through space, the worlds became harder to defeat. The warships remained old, the only recent construction found in the orbital shipyards were passenger ships, constructed in an attempt to evacuate the populations. Most of the time the only sightings of these ships was their engines pushing them into recently opened warp portals as they fled. The remaining ships and population fighting to the last in defense of their worlds. It was strange, though. Even though the warships kept getting older the further we went, their offensive capabilities improved with each engagement. What began as antiquated atomic weapons with chemical propulsion evolved to rail weapons launching high density loads at .99c. After years, we began to fight in engagements with ships wielding weapons that broke down the molecular bonds of their targets and finally canons that created artificial singularities that could destroy entire ships, crushing them to a infinitesimal mass in a single shot. It mattered not, because with an entire Empire constantly supplying new warships and warriors, the numbers would win out in the end no matter how they slowed us. Finally, only one system remained. From the intelligence gathered over the course of the long and brutal war, we knew their home system was fairly average. A main-type star, four rocky planets, four gas giants with large lunar systems, an asteroid belt, and several score of various sized planetoids. Most of the system was settled, and the humans were sure to fight harder here than anywhere else. Reinforced by every refugee ship that had been driven before us for all this time. The fleet exited our warp gates in the midsts of the system, where our stellar cartographers said their home planet would be, our engines cycling down for their recharge period. It was a devastating force of over 15,000 ships ready to overwhelm the planet in a single blow. The only thing there was a satellite orbiting the distant sun. There was nothing else in the system. No planets. No asteroids. The only thing our scanners could find were traces of dust and gas where our computers said planets should be in their stable orbits. I turned to my console as a communication signal was picked up from the satellite. It was a message on repeat that made my blood freeze in my veins as I realized just what kind of enemy we had so underestimated for so long. “Since the moment our species met, we have asked you for peaceful coexistence and you have responded with genocide. Every time your fleets appeared above one of our worlds, we would repeat our plea and you would ignored it. We hoped that if we would go far enough away, you would leave us be, but we learned that you would not stop. We knew we could not defeat you with the resources that we had used to expand our race to the starts. That it would take all that we had to end your aggression. What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done. Your stated purpose was to eliminate our race and take what was ours for your own. We will attempt the same and only one will remain when the last enemy falls.” As sensor readings began pouring in, the computer being overwhelmed as the numbers of reactors coming online rose over one million. The largest of the enemy ships, ten times larger than my flagship, and outnumbering it at least 25,000 to 1. Other ships classes were intermixed, including the ships that our forces would see leaving the worlds they arrived to conquer, but each and every ship scanned showed a single common trait: they were all younger than the age of the crusade. Every ship in the armada had been built since our first encounter. As the human ships warp gates began opening all throughout the system’s halo, one more sensor reading caught my attention. The sun at the center of the system was actively losing stability and was going nova. Our ships were to recently out of warp space and those engines wouldn’t be able to recharge in time to escape. The human’s message was still playing in the background and I realized, “What you find here is our home’s graveyard. We have used everything we were given to create a force of vengeance to repay in kind what you have done,” they meant everything. They were forcing their star to explode to destroy our fleet and were going to retrace our path before spilling into the Empire. I didn’t know if the combined might of our planets could stand against this, but as the distant star began to explode and my subordinates screamed at me for orders, I found I couldn’t bring myself to care.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Torus took his seat at the table, one of 11 identical seats. As he glanced around the circle, his upper mouth twisted into a frown. Typically, the ten representatives of the Federation took joy in subtly outdoing one another at their meetings. This human insistance on identical seats set at a round table was perplexing. The way of the Federation was simple. Ten species ruled coequally. Other species joined as clients. To join, they accepted the extermination of two thirds of their species. The remainder took their rightful place in breeding programs, coupled with overhaul of industry and agriculture. This ensured the continued prosperity of the Federation. Occasionally, some future clients proved troublesome. For them, the Federation had the Ru'a. Kronan scientists discovered the Ru'a early on. A primitive species, but perfect for genetic modification. Now, all Ru'a we're clones. There were no females. Missing proteins in their cells ensured they depended on the Federation for survival. When needed, entire armies could be grown. When the Federation was finished with them, they thrown away. Few Ru'a survived past the age of 5. Torus looked up, gratefully, at his Ru'a guards. The humans had no idea what was coming for them. A door on the other side of the chamber opened and the human diplomat seated himself at the table. These diplomats - the humans thought they could talk their way out of their fate. Some suspected they even thought to secure full representation for themselves. Ridiculous! The human spoke, "We have reviewed the terms of Federation membership and, I apologize, but we do not find them acceptable. While your Federation is certainly a powerful force, we would prefer to take things a little slower. I am sure that, one day, we may sit together as friends, but for now, perhaps we should focus on building some preliminary trade agreements. There are many possibilities -" The human was interrupted by a fist banging on the table. Kruathanan, of the Ghorsh, never took kindly to resistance. "Silence, human," he hissed, "You talk and you talk. You wear your diplomacy like a cloak of protection, thinking it will keep you safe. Nothing can save you." The human stared at Ghorsh. At first, Torus thought he was frightened. After a few moments, he checked his timepiece and it became clear that he was merely thinking. Again, he spoke, "You are all so mighty. Nothing can match you for speed or strength. Your lives are counted in centuries. We humans are different. Like your Ru'a, every day is a struggle to survive. Our lives are short. Death stands over us, every moment of every day." "When Death stands over you, you can do one of three things. You can fight it, which is ultimately-" "-futile." Torus turned to his guard in surprise. All of the Ru'a seemed to have become oddly intent. There was an edge to them that Torus had never seen before. The human didn't seem surprised at all. "Exactly, thank you. The second choice is to run from it. We had a poet who once wrote, because I would not stop for Death, Death kindly stopped for me. You cannot outrun Death." The Ru'a all chuckled. Torus didn't know they even had a sense of humor. "The third option is to make Death your friend and companion. To learn from Death. To allow Death to make you wise. We have learned much. Patience. Forgiveness." He turned to look, again, at Ghorsh. "You think we engage in diplomacy, to wear this cloak, to protect ourselves? No, we wear it to protect you. In times of trouble. Kronans can turn to their intellect. Kruathanan can turn to their strength." He nodded at Torus, "The Tun can rely on their cunning. We humans have only Death. We can be your friend, or we can kill you all. I'm afraid there is no middle ground." He glanced at his timepiece. "I'm sorry, this is taking longer than I thought. We will not mire ourselves in generations of war, and we most certainly will not accede to your demands. If you will not be our friends, then know that Death is coming." He nodded towards the Ru'a. "These brave men are like us. They live with Death. But unlike them, we have not been made small by false gods. You sit with us at this table because you think you have taken the measure of our resistance. This is merely the beginning." Ghorsh, fool that he was, began bellowing all of the things he planned to do to the human diplomat. There were threats about eating his heart while he still lived. Something about burning the diplomats family alive. The diplomat looked... bored. During a pause for breath the diplomat interjected, "You think I made an empty threat. Make no mistake, Death is coming for you. Every one of you has a weakness. The Kruathanan atmosphere, for instance, is very fickle. It doesn't take much to turn it against you." He checked his timepiece again. "Approximately 3 minutes ago, a Terran raiding vessel was likely destroyed by your planetary defenses. Before destruction it released a compound into your atmosphere. By now, your sky is beginning to darken. In a few hours, your people will have suffocated." The color drained from Ghorsh's face. He began to rise from the table, but a sharp crack sent him slumping to the floor, tail twitching. One of his Ru'a guards had broken his neck. The other representatives were, likewise, dispatched. Torus found himself awash in pain as his head hit the table. The guard had snapped his first and second neck, but missed the third. He could only watch in agony as the Ru'a pledged themselves to the humans and watch in disbelief as the humans pledged to find a way to free the Ru'a from their enslavement. He listened to them as they planned their conquest, to free all the client worlds of the Federation and reforge it anew. One of the Ru'a noticed him watching. The last thing Torus heard was the snapping of his third neck.	It was at the Preserve Peace Committee meeting that the Radant ambassador rose - standing his full eight feet in height - and Cast the Dorples. The handful of obsidian shards released from his hands assumed the position "Rapid Change - High Energy". Some attendees sitting at the table looked around to see how other species had reacted, but most simply looked down, their postures indicating "Inevitable Sorrow". The poor Humans, so helpful. So helpless. The Radants were warlike, and had accrued their empire by conquest. The Humans were inquisitive, charming, and had built their empire through exploration, and a willingness to work hard to make even sub-par systems viable. The rich empire they now commanded was alas, ripe for the taking by the ever-hungry Radants. The Human ambassador looked carefully at the Dorples, and with one finger, gently nudged one until the bundle of shards shifted into "Contrition, Regret". The Radant barked in contempt. "No placating words will work this time Human, your diplomacy will avail you nothing." The Human ambassador sighed, and assumed the posture "Attend, I Explain". She spoke very softly, so that the other diplomats had to lean in close to hear her words. "Diplomacy does work. And I want to be very clear. When you ask for mercy, we shall hear your plea." The Radant simply glared in response. The Human shifted her posture to "Polite Regret, Imminent Departure". "Please excuse me, I must leave and help my species prepare". She then lifted the shards and Cast the Dorples anew, and then abruptly left. The shards fell into an unfamiliar pattern, that caused some consternation. Those with the subtlety to read the Dorples saw "Total War". What did that mean? Was it one of those idioms that Humans were so fond of? In any case, that was the last time any attendees saw the Human Ambassador Helen Cochrane. When next they saw her, she was General Cochrane, 15th Fleet, Commanding. Her armada consisted of some thirteen hundred Avenger class battle cruisers, a hundred thousand Katana class fighters, and fifty thousand other support vessels, repair ships, mining rigs, and so on. The 15th Fleet was one of over two hundred such fleets, and they had - after many initial setbacks - proved to be the equals of the Radants in battle, and subsequently their masters. The early Radant successes had been against almost unarmed Human vessels, ill-suited to combat, easily beaten. Yet the Humans had flown them anyway, and fought in them. With great sacrifice, they had slowed the Radant invasion just a little. But that was just enough for their newly built shipyards to come on line, and then the Radants had to face the Humans in their newly designed Defender class battle cruisers. This had stopped the Radant invasion entirely. And as the Radant forces waited for reinforcements from home, the Humans had developed their Avenger class ships. And produced them in prodigious numbers. Armed with weapons no one had seen before, of unknown potential, and seemingly invulnerable to Radant Annihilator beams, these new Avenger vessels had swiftly turned the tide of the war. Most of the much-vaunted Radant had been destroyed in a single blow at the Battle of Centauri Reach. The Humans had destroyed Radant outposts, military garrisons, indeed the entire infrastructure of the Radant war machine. So much destruction inspired awe, and in many quarters fear. No one could stand against the Humans, if they chose to make war, so great was their might. Yet in each system, they siphoned off part of their forces to help the Radants rebuild. Most of the Human forces were now scattered throughout Radant space, rebuilding space ports and solar harvesters, helping ordinary Radants rebuild their lives. And now the Humans were on Radant itself, meeting a peace delegation. General Cochrane approached the table where the Radant delegates sat. She took a velvet pouch from her pocket, and withdrew the shards within, and with great precision, she Cast the Dorples. They clattered on the table and assumed "Tempest, Destruction". One of the Radants gingerly reached out, and nudged a shard. The small pile shifted, and assumed "Desperation, Repentance". Cochrane paused and with a single tap, the shards now read "Watchful Benevolence". "War is a crime, and the ones who forced it upon us will pay, and justice shall be their lot. But let us turn our thoughts to peace, now." The Radants eagerly accepted the terms offered, and after a few years of Human rule, had once again become self-governing. The human fleet still existed, but had been de-militarised, and now most of it was in civilian hands, used as transport vessels, mining rigs, energy harvesters, and what have you. Did you know that you can still get surplus Human Katana fighters? They make great gas giant skimmers at a cost that is hard to beat. I think I know now what "Total War" means.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Admiral. A title relegated to the best of Naval Officers, a true leader. Farragut. Porter. Dewey. Fletcher. King. Nimitz. Kinkaid. Halsey. Spruance. Burke. The greatest Navy men in the United States, or so I have been told. In the Navy, it is one of the highest ranks one can attain. To be an Admiral is a great honor. So why do I not feel honored to take this position? Of course, I know why. I am in no way the intended person for this role. A traitor to my homeland, a deserter of my Legion, a guerrilla naval specialist, a "Tin Can Captain". And most importantly, a Krai-toln. The very ruling race of the Empire that Humanity is set on fighting. I know I have earned my title. My list of awards given by the Navy is long and impressive; the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroic Actions at the Battle of Mars, two Purple Hearts, one for the Battle of Sirius and one for Operation 'Achy Breaky Heart', the Navy Cross, the E. E. Evans 'Last Stand' Award for Actions at the Battle of Bernard's Star, and many more lesser awards. I know I do not belong here - yet, everyone says I do. Humans are the nicest, yet most terrifying race I have ever met. The closest phrase I can think of to describe Humanity is "Dignified Indignity", and that goes for their warfare, too. Where the Krai-toln uses lasers and electromagnetic pulses, the Humans use ballistics and atom-splitters. It is a totally indignant form of warfare, yet, under a orderly, calm mask of dignity. Yet, there is one form of warfare where Humanity is completely and utterly dignified, and would not dare stray into indignity: diplomacy. I have read of situations, misunderstandings, that back in the Empire would've been a declaration of War. Yet, as the young man tasked with bringing me 'up to speed' with history said, "cooler heads prevailed." I will say, there are no 'cooler heads' in the Kraii Empire. It is a nation of pure war, built to do nothing but destroy and assimilate. As much as I hate to say it, the Krai-toln people are much the same, told by their dictators what to think, what to say, and who to fight to gain "glory and power". I did not even know about the death statistics for Kraii Legionaries until I fled to the side of the Humans, into the arms of the US Navy, where they documented every kill and mourned every loss; a completely unheard of tradition in the Kraii Empire, at least under the current regime. 78.62% of all Kraii Legionaries sent into battle do not come back alive. Of that 21.38%, another \~20% are killed upon return to their commanding officers, being deemed either too damaged to be useful to the War Effort or being a failure to the Kraii Nation for having fled battle, even if that battle was already over. The 1-or-so percentage left alive are commanding officers, sons of rulers or commanding officers, or those rich enough to purchase the ability to fight another day. It is clear to me that a total war to Humans is a completely different thing to a Kraii "Always War". A human total war is a complete mobilization of a nation to defeat an enemy, temporarily expanding the armed forces to a massive extent with those willing to fight against those who have wronged the homeland they love. It is a last step along a path of diplomacy, a final option if all else fails. A Kraii "Always War" - the "Ker-to-wesyllison" - is a permanent state. All citizens must fight, make goods for the fight, or command the fight. Those who cannot are exterminated. There is no place for diplomacy, no place for peace, no place for health, only fighting and dying. It is really no wonder, then, that the Humans are the ones winning the war. Should a Human return from a battle injured, he is not killed, nor is he a failure. He is a hero, and is treated as such. What with the Kraii would be a practice only reserved for those at the very top of the command chain is common place with the Humans. It is amazing; for all my time in the Kraii Legions, I never once saw a medic. Here, it seems there is one around every corner, seeking people to help. A profession built on sympathy. And that is what separates Humanity from the Kraii Empire: Sympathy. One cannot heal, negotiate, learn from, or otherwise treat another being as an equal without some degree of sympathy. It seems to be a trait ingrained in humans, a natural response to any interaction, good or bad. It is even seen as a mental illness to not have any sympathy for other beings. This is far removed from the Kraii of today. I suspect we used to have ingrained sympathy; landmarks such as the Monument to Unity in the very heart of the capitol of the Empire attest to a much more Human-like past. However, any sign of this in today's Krai-toln soldiers is sadly uncommon. It is still there, shining to the surface in some occasions, even leading to defections such as mine. For most Krai-toln, though, sympathy is missing, bred out by their leaders to create a race of near-perfect warriors. Their near-perfect warriors are faltering. A human shot by a Krai-toln will most likely be healed and back in action within the month; a Krai-toln shot by a human and not rescued by humans will be most surely dead, left to die by the very government he fights for. Destroyed human supplies will be replaced by the end of the day by the hard-working men and women giving their all in the factories; destroyed Kraii supplies are only replaced when living workers can be found, the workers who made the previous supplies having already been killed for some minor mistake their government found intolerable. We will win this Total War, because for Humanity, and for it's allies, for those who believe in freedom, liberty, and individuality, war is temporary. Mistakes are forgivable. Sympathy is given to those who need it. And that is why, today, I stand here and accept the role of Admiral in the United States Navy. Not because it is what I deserve. Not because it is what my commanders declare. No, I accept this role because I truly believe in the ways of humanity, of sympathy, of diplomacy before war, of temporary war. I have seen what a total destruction of sympathy and diplomacy can do. I have seen the results of an "Always War". And I never wish to witness it again, and I shall do my best with the power I have been given to make sure an "Always War" is never allowed to occur again. I encourage all of you to do the same. -Admiral Jrell Vohanne Kelard-Synn, United States Navy "The Grand Acceptance Speech" - Given Aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, Docked at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, November 11, 2089 (Still an amateur at this - give constructive criticism, please! I am looking for all ways to improve!)	It was at the Preserve Peace Committee meeting that the Radant ambassador rose - standing his full eight feet in height - and Cast the Dorples. The handful of obsidian shards released from his hands assumed the position "Rapid Change - High Energy". Some attendees sitting at the table looked around to see how other species had reacted, but most simply looked down, their postures indicating "Inevitable Sorrow". The poor Humans, so helpful. So helpless. The Radants were warlike, and had accrued their empire by conquest. The Humans were inquisitive, charming, and had built their empire through exploration, and a willingness to work hard to make even sub-par systems viable. The rich empire they now commanded was alas, ripe for the taking by the ever-hungry Radants. The Human ambassador looked carefully at the Dorples, and with one finger, gently nudged one until the bundle of shards shifted into "Contrition, Regret". The Radant barked in contempt. "No placating words will work this time Human, your diplomacy will avail you nothing." The Human ambassador sighed, and assumed the posture "Attend, I Explain". She spoke very softly, so that the other diplomats had to lean in close to hear her words. "Diplomacy does work. And I want to be very clear. When you ask for mercy, we shall hear your plea." The Radant simply glared in response. The Human shifted her posture to "Polite Regret, Imminent Departure". "Please excuse me, I must leave and help my species prepare". She then lifted the shards and Cast the Dorples anew, and then abruptly left. The shards fell into an unfamiliar pattern, that caused some consternation. Those with the subtlety to read the Dorples saw "Total War". What did that mean? Was it one of those idioms that Humans were so fond of? In any case, that was the last time any attendees saw the Human Ambassador Helen Cochrane. When next they saw her, she was General Cochrane, 15th Fleet, Commanding. Her armada consisted of some thirteen hundred Avenger class battle cruisers, a hundred thousand Katana class fighters, and fifty thousand other support vessels, repair ships, mining rigs, and so on. The 15th Fleet was one of over two hundred such fleets, and they had - after many initial setbacks - proved to be the equals of the Radants in battle, and subsequently their masters. The early Radant successes had been against almost unarmed Human vessels, ill-suited to combat, easily beaten. Yet the Humans had flown them anyway, and fought in them. With great sacrifice, they had slowed the Radant invasion just a little. But that was just enough for their newly built shipyards to come on line, and then the Radants had to face the Humans in their newly designed Defender class battle cruisers. This had stopped the Radant invasion entirely. And as the Radant forces waited for reinforcements from home, the Humans had developed their Avenger class ships. And produced them in prodigious numbers. Armed with weapons no one had seen before, of unknown potential, and seemingly invulnerable to Radant Annihilator beams, these new Avenger vessels had swiftly turned the tide of the war. Most of the much-vaunted Radant had been destroyed in a single blow at the Battle of Centauri Reach. The Humans had destroyed Radant outposts, military garrisons, indeed the entire infrastructure of the Radant war machine. So much destruction inspired awe, and in many quarters fear. No one could stand against the Humans, if they chose to make war, so great was their might. Yet in each system, they siphoned off part of their forces to help the Radants rebuild. Most of the Human forces were now scattered throughout Radant space, rebuilding space ports and solar harvesters, helping ordinary Radants rebuild their lives. And now the Humans were on Radant itself, meeting a peace delegation. General Cochrane approached the table where the Radant delegates sat. She took a velvet pouch from her pocket, and withdrew the shards within, and with great precision, she Cast the Dorples. They clattered on the table and assumed "Tempest, Destruction". One of the Radants gingerly reached out, and nudged a shard. The small pile shifted, and assumed "Desperation, Repentance". Cochrane paused and with a single tap, the shards now read "Watchful Benevolence". "War is a crime, and the ones who forced it upon us will pay, and justice shall be their lot. But let us turn our thoughts to peace, now." The Radants eagerly accepted the terms offered, and after a few years of Human rule, had once again become self-governing. The human fleet still existed, but had been de-militarised, and now most of it was in civilian hands, used as transport vessels, mining rigs, energy harvesters, and what have you. Did you know that you can still get surplus Human Katana fighters? They make great gas giant skimmers at a cost that is hard to beat. I think I know now what "Total War" means.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Torus took his seat at the table, one of 11 identical seats. As he glanced around the circle, his upper mouth twisted into a frown. Typically, the ten representatives of the Federation took joy in subtly outdoing one another at their meetings. This human insistance on identical seats set at a round table was perplexing. The way of the Federation was simple. Ten species ruled coequally. Other species joined as clients. To join, they accepted the extermination of two thirds of their species. The remainder took their rightful place in breeding programs, coupled with overhaul of industry and agriculture. This ensured the continued prosperity of the Federation. Occasionally, some future clients proved troublesome. For them, the Federation had the Ru'a. Kronan scientists discovered the Ru'a early on. A primitive species, but perfect for genetic modification. Now, all Ru'a we're clones. There were no females. Missing proteins in their cells ensured they depended on the Federation for survival. When needed, entire armies could be grown. When the Federation was finished with them, they thrown away. Few Ru'a survived past the age of 5. Torus looked up, gratefully, at his Ru'a guards. The humans had no idea what was coming for them. A door on the other side of the chamber opened and the human diplomat seated himself at the table. These diplomats - the humans thought they could talk their way out of their fate. Some suspected they even thought to secure full representation for themselves. Ridiculous! The human spoke, "We have reviewed the terms of Federation membership and, I apologize, but we do not find them acceptable. While your Federation is certainly a powerful force, we would prefer to take things a little slower. I am sure that, one day, we may sit together as friends, but for now, perhaps we should focus on building some preliminary trade agreements. There are many possibilities -" The human was interrupted by a fist banging on the table. Kruathanan, of the Ghorsh, never took kindly to resistance. "Silence, human," he hissed, "You talk and you talk. You wear your diplomacy like a cloak of protection, thinking it will keep you safe. Nothing can save you." The human stared at Ghorsh. At first, Torus thought he was frightened. After a few moments, he checked his timepiece and it became clear that he was merely thinking. Again, he spoke, "You are all so mighty. Nothing can match you for speed or strength. Your lives are counted in centuries. We humans are different. Like your Ru'a, every day is a struggle to survive. Our lives are short. Death stands over us, every moment of every day." "When Death stands over you, you can do one of three things. You can fight it, which is ultimately-" "-futile." Torus turned to his guard in surprise. All of the Ru'a seemed to have become oddly intent. There was an edge to them that Torus had never seen before. The human didn't seem surprised at all. "Exactly, thank you. The second choice is to run from it. We had a poet who once wrote, because I would not stop for Death, Death kindly stopped for me. You cannot outrun Death." The Ru'a all chuckled. Torus didn't know they even had a sense of humor. "The third option is to make Death your friend and companion. To learn from Death. To allow Death to make you wise. We have learned much. Patience. Forgiveness." He turned to look, again, at Ghorsh. "You think we engage in diplomacy, to wear this cloak, to protect ourselves? No, we wear it to protect you. In times of trouble. Kronans can turn to their intellect. Kruathanan can turn to their strength." He nodded at Torus, "The Tun can rely on their cunning. We humans have only Death. We can be your friend, or we can kill you all. I'm afraid there is no middle ground." He glanced at his timepiece. "I'm sorry, this is taking longer than I thought. We will not mire ourselves in generations of war, and we most certainly will not accede to your demands. If you will not be our friends, then know that Death is coming." He nodded towards the Ru'a. "These brave men are like us. They live with Death. But unlike them, we have not been made small by false gods. You sit with us at this table because you think you have taken the measure of our resistance. This is merely the beginning." Ghorsh, fool that he was, began bellowing all of the things he planned to do to the human diplomat. There were threats about eating his heart while he still lived. Something about burning the diplomats family alive. The diplomat looked... bored. During a pause for breath the diplomat interjected, "You think I made an empty threat. Make no mistake, Death is coming for you. Every one of you has a weakness. The Kruathanan atmosphere, for instance, is very fickle. It doesn't take much to turn it against you." He checked his timepiece again. "Approximately 3 minutes ago, a Terran raiding vessel was likely destroyed by your planetary defenses. Before destruction it released a compound into your atmosphere. By now, your sky is beginning to darken. In a few hours, your people will have suffocated." The color drained from Ghorsh's face. He began to rise from the table, but a sharp crack sent him slumping to the floor, tail twitching. One of his Ru'a guards had broken his neck. The other representatives were, likewise, dispatched. Torus found himself awash in pain as his head hit the table. The guard had snapped his first and second neck, but missed the third. He could only watch in agony as the Ru'a pledged themselves to the humans and watch in disbelief as the humans pledged to find a way to free the Ru'a from their enslavement. He listened to them as they planned their conquest, to free all the client worlds of the Federation and reforge it anew. One of the Ru'a noticed him watching. The last thing Torus heard was the snapping of his third neck.	We knew humans were weak. We knew they were kind. We knew they avoided every conflict through negotiation and diplomacy. We knew humanity had not wage war in over a thousand years. We knew humanity was one of the oldest civilization's, and yet, had the weakest army. We did not know their history. We did not know of the thousands lost at the hands of their own kin. We did not know the humans had learned what the universe was only just discovering. We learned. The Yuka's were a violent species. War was in their blood, and their rejoice in spilling their enemies. The union had keep them away from most inhabitated planets for centuries. And then...And then the Yuka's thought they had founded the weak link. They attack Earth. Earth was not ready. Earth burned (billions died. The oceans and forest humans had so painstakingly reconstruct from their ancestor's sins turned to ashes) (I have not heard a scream with such pain from my human friend before. I could do nothing but watch as she fell to her knees. I pitied her.) Humans were brought close to extinction, with only those in the colonies surviving. We were willing, of course, to take every refuge; they were, after all, a peaceful species, they couldn't possibly defend themselves. None came. They took what little ships they still had. They brought their children to the union, and declared war. None of them smiled. We thought it was suicide. We were right. The Yoka's had signed their death warrant. Humanity, they discovered, was not kind. Humans, they learned, had war in the souls (for how else can you explain the grieving mother that took down a warship by herself. The lone soldier that decimated three planet colonies. The army that had raised from the ashes of their pain). When the Yoka's had only their original planet left, they plead for mercy. They plead for their children. They beg for diplomacy. And, like Earth, they burned. ( "There's no one left" I didn't say, when I saw my friend again. "You killed thousands" I didn't scream, when she smiled at me. "You are a monster" I didn't murmur, when I look into her eyes (she knew) "What now?" I ask, instead. She leaned against me, looking at the stars. I try to ignore the knowledge of the amount of blood in those thin arms. "We build up again." She smiled. "We, humans, are good at that". )
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Admiral. A title relegated to the best of Naval Officers, a true leader. Farragut. Porter. Dewey. Fletcher. King. Nimitz. Kinkaid. Halsey. Spruance. Burke. The greatest Navy men in the United States, or so I have been told. In the Navy, it is one of the highest ranks one can attain. To be an Admiral is a great honor. So why do I not feel honored to take this position? Of course, I know why. I am in no way the intended person for this role. A traitor to my homeland, a deserter of my Legion, a guerrilla naval specialist, a "Tin Can Captain". And most importantly, a Krai-toln. The very ruling race of the Empire that Humanity is set on fighting. I know I have earned my title. My list of awards given by the Navy is long and impressive; the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroic Actions at the Battle of Mars, two Purple Hearts, one for the Battle of Sirius and one for Operation 'Achy Breaky Heart', the Navy Cross, the E. E. Evans 'Last Stand' Award for Actions at the Battle of Bernard's Star, and many more lesser awards. I know I do not belong here - yet, everyone says I do. Humans are the nicest, yet most terrifying race I have ever met. The closest phrase I can think of to describe Humanity is "Dignified Indignity", and that goes for their warfare, too. Where the Krai-toln uses lasers and electromagnetic pulses, the Humans use ballistics and atom-splitters. It is a totally indignant form of warfare, yet, under a orderly, calm mask of dignity. Yet, there is one form of warfare where Humanity is completely and utterly dignified, and would not dare stray into indignity: diplomacy. I have read of situations, misunderstandings, that back in the Empire would've been a declaration of War. Yet, as the young man tasked with bringing me 'up to speed' with history said, "cooler heads prevailed." I will say, there are no 'cooler heads' in the Kraii Empire. It is a nation of pure war, built to do nothing but destroy and assimilate. As much as I hate to say it, the Krai-toln people are much the same, told by their dictators what to think, what to say, and who to fight to gain "glory and power". I did not even know about the death statistics for Kraii Legionaries until I fled to the side of the Humans, into the arms of the US Navy, where they documented every kill and mourned every loss; a completely unheard of tradition in the Kraii Empire, at least under the current regime. 78.62% of all Kraii Legionaries sent into battle do not come back alive. Of that 21.38%, another \~20% are killed upon return to their commanding officers, being deemed either too damaged to be useful to the War Effort or being a failure to the Kraii Nation for having fled battle, even if that battle was already over. The 1-or-so percentage left alive are commanding officers, sons of rulers or commanding officers, or those rich enough to purchase the ability to fight another day. It is clear to me that a total war to Humans is a completely different thing to a Kraii "Always War". A human total war is a complete mobilization of a nation to defeat an enemy, temporarily expanding the armed forces to a massive extent with those willing to fight against those who have wronged the homeland they love. It is a last step along a path of diplomacy, a final option if all else fails. A Kraii "Always War" - the "Ker-to-wesyllison" - is a permanent state. All citizens must fight, make goods for the fight, or command the fight. Those who cannot are exterminated. There is no place for diplomacy, no place for peace, no place for health, only fighting and dying. It is really no wonder, then, that the Humans are the ones winning the war. Should a Human return from a battle injured, he is not killed, nor is he a failure. He is a hero, and is treated as such. What with the Kraii would be a practice only reserved for those at the very top of the command chain is common place with the Humans. It is amazing; for all my time in the Kraii Legions, I never once saw a medic. Here, it seems there is one around every corner, seeking people to help. A profession built on sympathy. And that is what separates Humanity from the Kraii Empire: Sympathy. One cannot heal, negotiate, learn from, or otherwise treat another being as an equal without some degree of sympathy. It seems to be a trait ingrained in humans, a natural response to any interaction, good or bad. It is even seen as a mental illness to not have any sympathy for other beings. This is far removed from the Kraii of today. I suspect we used to have ingrained sympathy; landmarks such as the Monument to Unity in the very heart of the capitol of the Empire attest to a much more Human-like past. However, any sign of this in today's Krai-toln soldiers is sadly uncommon. It is still there, shining to the surface in some occasions, even leading to defections such as mine. For most Krai-toln, though, sympathy is missing, bred out by their leaders to create a race of near-perfect warriors. Their near-perfect warriors are faltering. A human shot by a Krai-toln will most likely be healed and back in action within the month; a Krai-toln shot by a human and not rescued by humans will be most surely dead, left to die by the very government he fights for. Destroyed human supplies will be replaced by the end of the day by the hard-working men and women giving their all in the factories; destroyed Kraii supplies are only replaced when living workers can be found, the workers who made the previous supplies having already been killed for some minor mistake their government found intolerable. We will win this Total War, because for Humanity, and for it's allies, for those who believe in freedom, liberty, and individuality, war is temporary. Mistakes are forgivable. Sympathy is given to those who need it. And that is why, today, I stand here and accept the role of Admiral in the United States Navy. Not because it is what I deserve. Not because it is what my commanders declare. No, I accept this role because I truly believe in the ways of humanity, of sympathy, of diplomacy before war, of temporary war. I have seen what a total destruction of sympathy and diplomacy can do. I have seen the results of an "Always War". And I never wish to witness it again, and I shall do my best with the power I have been given to make sure an "Always War" is never allowed to occur again. I encourage all of you to do the same. -Admiral Jrell Vohanne Kelard-Synn, United States Navy "The Grand Acceptance Speech" - Given Aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, Docked at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, November 11, 2089 (Still an amateur at this - give constructive criticism, please! I am looking for all ways to improve!)	We knew humans were weak. We knew they were kind. We knew they avoided every conflict through negotiation and diplomacy. We knew humanity had not wage war in over a thousand years. We knew humanity was one of the oldest civilization's, and yet, had the weakest army. We did not know their history. We did not know of the thousands lost at the hands of their own kin. We did not know the humans had learned what the universe was only just discovering. We learned. The Yuka's were a violent species. War was in their blood, and their rejoice in spilling their enemies. The union had keep them away from most inhabitated planets for centuries. And then...And then the Yuka's thought they had founded the weak link. They attack Earth. Earth was not ready. Earth burned (billions died. The oceans and forest humans had so painstakingly reconstruct from their ancestor's sins turned to ashes) (I have not heard a scream with such pain from my human friend before. I could do nothing but watch as she fell to her knees. I pitied her.) Humans were brought close to extinction, with only those in the colonies surviving. We were willing, of course, to take every refuge; they were, after all, a peaceful species, they couldn't possibly defend themselves. None came. They took what little ships they still had. They brought their children to the union, and declared war. None of them smiled. We thought it was suicide. We were right. The Yoka's had signed their death warrant. Humanity, they discovered, was not kind. Humans, they learned, had war in the souls (for how else can you explain the grieving mother that took down a warship by herself. The lone soldier that decimated three planet colonies. The army that had raised from the ashes of their pain). When the Yoka's had only their original planet left, they plead for mercy. They plead for their children. They beg for diplomacy. And, like Earth, they burned. ( "There's no one left" I didn't say, when I saw my friend again. "You killed thousands" I didn't scream, when she smiled at me. "You are a monster" I didn't murmur, when I look into her eyes (she knew) "What now?" I ask, instead. She leaned against me, looking at the stars. I try to ignore the knowledge of the amount of blood in those thin arms. "We build up again." She smiled. "We, humans, are good at that". )
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	"Mx. Ambassador, I really do urge you to reconsider this. Contact your government, there is still time." Niobe Gudrunsdottir leaned forward, her face serious. "You don't want this war." L'hish smilled, xis ingestion mouth drawing a flat line that extended the full height of xis face as xis vocal orifices intoned musically. "You are mistaken. My government has been preparing for this for some time. No more of your smug, conciliatory diplomacy, your continual words and meager trade considerations. Your worlds will be ours. Your people will serve us. This is inevitable now. This has been a long time coming. We have prepared for your response. You will not stop us." Xe leaned back, watching his counterpart tap into her datapad and knowing that the Ylnak battlecruisers would already be deep into Human territory, preparing to strike key military installations painstakingly mapped over the last several years. A fleet built up over decades, kept in secret even as the Humans were monitored at every turn. At this point the Human Republic was outgunned an estimated 3-to-1, and the initial strikes would cripple their military production capacity by 25%, with much of the remainder to fall in the following few weeks. It would be a quick, fatal blow. A short war, as the Ylnak preferred. The general populace had no real taste for long conflict even as removed as the core planets were from the multitude of small border skirmishes. The plan was to win almost before the citizenry knew there was a war happening, let it go on long enough to get a few heroes out in front of the holocams, and celebrate another expansion of the Hegemon. "All the pieces are in our chains, your Vion off the board. This is catch-caught." "I beg your pardon?" Niobe looked up from her datapad, her voice calm, distracted. "Ah, you are not familiar with the game of Krtil. You will need to learn it, but for now the closest for you might be..." Xe thought for a moment, grasping for the Human word. "Checkmate?" Niobe nodded with an intellectual frown, as if learning some small piece of trivia. She punched a few more buttons on her datapad then looked up at L'hish. "If that is truly the decision of your government, and I really do wish you would reconsider, but if it is..." "It is. This matter is settled. Good bye." L'hish made to stand. "Just a moment Mx. Ambassador, don't you want to hear our counter offer?" "More of your driveling words? Hear you beg? Does the predator care to hear the bleats of its dying prey? No." L'hish was off xis bench and was halfway towards towards the door. "Oh, but I think you will want to hear it." Something in the woman's voice caught in xis ears, an edge he had never heard before, and xe turned looking at the woman. Her face was an open smile, but her eyes... L'hish had spent years negotiating with Humans and her face.. unsettled xim. Her mouth and expression were neutral except... her eyes. Set against her dark skin, they were an icy blue that had somehow become colder, harder. He didn't know how to read this expression. Xe walked back and settled down, not breaking the lock of eyes for a second. "Speak." "You aren't very familiar with Human history, are you Mx. Ambassador?" "Familiar enough to know you think yourselves past war. A peaceful people. A pacified, tamed people." "Ahh, a common misconception. You see, I am a student of history, Mx. Ambassador, so much so I have one of my PhD's in it. I have read a lot of history and in fact my thesis was an analysis organized militaries versus guerilla and insurgent forces. Tell me, Mx. Ambassador, have you ever read about Vietnam? Or Ireland? Or Afghanistan?" "Your primitive states are of no interest to me." "That's a shame. You see, we Humans study history so that we can learn from it, learn from past mistakes. But why would you study those? The Hegemon has always been victorious, hasn't it?" "It has. Our forces have won in glorious conquest for a thousand years. None can stand against the might of our armadas." Niobe smiled. "Indeed. The only limit to your reach has been how fast you can reproduce and build ships. But let's digress from that. In normal warfare you are unmatched so far, I will concede that as it is self evident. But if you had bothered to read the history of Human warfare, you would have learned something. A very important lesson that you could have learned easily and cheaply, and will now have to be taught, at great cost." "What..." L'hish began, but Niobe put up a finger as her datapad chimed. Xis irritation grew further as she tapped a few controls then nodded as she received a confirmation chirp. She turned back to xim. "The lesson? before I get to that, Mx. Ambassador, can you verify something for me? The population of Kloson on Hirga II is about 10.5 million, yes?" Xe was caught off guard by the non-sequitur, but gathered xis thoughts and replied. "I believe so. I don't see what that has to do..." "Humor me just a moment longer. And Huls on Jedatha VI, roughly 8 million?" "Yes, but..." "Ulkor on Lish III, another 9 million. I believe you have family there... a sibling?" "Yes. What does this have to do with..." "With my thesis? Nothing. And everything. They also have everything to do with that lesson I mentioned. Especially since they now no longer exist." Niobe calmly tapped a few controls on her datapad and the holo in the middle of the room lit up. Spread across it were news feeds from the Hegemon, showing satellite images of the unmistakable star bursts of nuclear detonations intercut with footage from the surface showing rising mushroom clouds as cities incinerated. L'hish was speechless, xis face slack in horror, dumbfounded as xe tried to process what xe was seeing. Xe turned as Niobe spoke again, her voice taking on a pedagogical air. "And now, your promised lesson: We don't play fair; we fight dirty as hell, tooth and nail with every fiber of our being. We will sacrifice anything, destroy everything, accept mutual annihilation as victory, and would rather be extinct than subjugated. We have had these safeguards in place for years, ever since we determined that you more than likely would decide to try your military conquest on us one day. I really hoped we'd never have to use it." "But... those were civilians... innocents... how could you do somethings so... monstrous?" Niobe laughed, a cold hard laughter that rang from the walls, that chilled L'hish to xis cartilage. "That's the thing, Mx. Ambassador. We are monsters. We have tried not to be, but here we are. It was the conclusion of my thesis: Humanity is made of monsters, monsters that need better ways. That is why I am a diplomat, to try and keep us from being such if we don't have to be. And then the Hegemon had to go and press that great big 'do not push' button. Shame." L'hish's comm buzzed insistently. Niobe sipped her coffee, and selected a nibble from a plate. "You should take that. I imagine the Council of Princes have something urgent to say. Let me know if they need more lessons."	We knew humans were weak. We knew they were kind. We knew they avoided every conflict through negotiation and diplomacy. We knew humanity had not wage war in over a thousand years. We knew humanity was one of the oldest civilization's, and yet, had the weakest army. We did not know their history. We did not know of the thousands lost at the hands of their own kin. We did not know the humans had learned what the universe was only just discovering. We learned. The Yuka's were a violent species. War was in their blood, and their rejoice in spilling their enemies. The union had keep them away from most inhabitated planets for centuries. And then...And then the Yuka's thought they had founded the weak link. They attack Earth. Earth was not ready. Earth burned (billions died. The oceans and forest humans had so painstakingly reconstruct from their ancestor's sins turned to ashes) (I have not heard a scream with such pain from my human friend before. I could do nothing but watch as she fell to her knees. I pitied her.) Humans were brought close to extinction, with only those in the colonies surviving. We were willing, of course, to take every refuge; they were, after all, a peaceful species, they couldn't possibly defend themselves. None came. They took what little ships they still had. They brought their children to the union, and declared war. None of them smiled. We thought it was suicide. We were right. The Yoka's had signed their death warrant. Humanity, they discovered, was not kind. Humans, they learned, had war in the souls (for how else can you explain the grieving mother that took down a warship by herself. The lone soldier that decimated three planet colonies. The army that had raised from the ashes of their pain). When the Yoka's had only their original planet left, they plead for mercy. They plead for their children. They beg for diplomacy. And, like Earth, they burned. ( "There's no one left" I didn't say, when I saw my friend again. "You killed thousands" I didn't scream, when she smiled at me. "You are a monster" I didn't murmur, when I look into her eyes (she knew) "What now?" I ask, instead. She leaned against me, looking at the stars. I try to ignore the knowledge of the amount of blood in those thin arms. "We build up again." She smiled. "We, humans, are good at that". )
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	"Mx. Ambassador, I really do urge you to reconsider this. Contact your government, there is still time." Niobe Gudrunsdottir leaned forward, her face serious. "You don't want this war." L'hish smilled, xis ingestion mouth drawing a flat line that extended the full height of xis face as xis vocal orifices intoned musically. "You are mistaken. My government has been preparing for this for some time. No more of your smug, conciliatory diplomacy, your continual words and meager trade considerations. Your worlds will be ours. Your people will serve us. This is inevitable now. This has been a long time coming. We have prepared for your response. You will not stop us." Xe leaned back, watching his counterpart tap into her datapad and knowing that the Ylnak battlecruisers would already be deep into Human territory, preparing to strike key military installations painstakingly mapped over the last several years. A fleet built up over decades, kept in secret even as the Humans were monitored at every turn. At this point the Human Republic was outgunned an estimated 3-to-1, and the initial strikes would cripple their military production capacity by 25%, with much of the remainder to fall in the following few weeks. It would be a quick, fatal blow. A short war, as the Ylnak preferred. The general populace had no real taste for long conflict even as removed as the core planets were from the multitude of small border skirmishes. The plan was to win almost before the citizenry knew there was a war happening, let it go on long enough to get a few heroes out in front of the holocams, and celebrate another expansion of the Hegemon. "All the pieces are in our chains, your Vion off the board. This is catch-caught." "I beg your pardon?" Niobe looked up from her datapad, her voice calm, distracted. "Ah, you are not familiar with the game of Krtil. You will need to learn it, but for now the closest for you might be..." Xe thought for a moment, grasping for the Human word. "Checkmate?" Niobe nodded with an intellectual frown, as if learning some small piece of trivia. She punched a few more buttons on her datapad then looked up at L'hish. "If that is truly the decision of your government, and I really do wish you would reconsider, but if it is..." "It is. This matter is settled. Good bye." L'hish made to stand. "Just a moment Mx. Ambassador, don't you want to hear our counter offer?" "More of your driveling words? Hear you beg? Does the predator care to hear the bleats of its dying prey? No." L'hish was off xis bench and was halfway towards towards the door. "Oh, but I think you will want to hear it." Something in the woman's voice caught in xis ears, an edge he had never heard before, and xe turned looking at the woman. Her face was an open smile, but her eyes... L'hish had spent years negotiating with Humans and her face.. unsettled xim. Her mouth and expression were neutral except... her eyes. Set against her dark skin, they were an icy blue that had somehow become colder, harder. He didn't know how to read this expression. Xe walked back and settled down, not breaking the lock of eyes for a second. "Speak." "You aren't very familiar with Human history, are you Mx. Ambassador?" "Familiar enough to know you think yourselves past war. A peaceful people. A pacified, tamed people." "Ahh, a common misconception. You see, I am a student of history, Mx. Ambassador, so much so I have one of my PhD's in it. I have read a lot of history and in fact my thesis was an analysis organized militaries versus guerilla and insurgent forces. Tell me, Mx. Ambassador, have you ever read about Vietnam? Or Ireland? Or Afghanistan?" "Your primitive states are of no interest to me." "That's a shame. You see, we Humans study history so that we can learn from it, learn from past mistakes. But why would you study those? The Hegemon has always been victorious, hasn't it?" "It has. Our forces have won in glorious conquest for a thousand years. None can stand against the might of our armadas." Niobe smiled. "Indeed. The only limit to your reach has been how fast you can reproduce and build ships. But let's digress from that. In normal warfare you are unmatched so far, I will concede that as it is self evident. But if you had bothered to read the history of Human warfare, you would have learned something. A very important lesson that you could have learned easily and cheaply, and will now have to be taught, at great cost." "What..." L'hish began, but Niobe put up a finger as her datapad chimed. Xis irritation grew further as she tapped a few controls then nodded as she received a confirmation chirp. She turned back to xim. "The lesson? before I get to that, Mx. Ambassador, can you verify something for me? The population of Kloson on Hirga II is about 10.5 million, yes?" Xe was caught off guard by the non-sequitur, but gathered xis thoughts and replied. "I believe so. I don't see what that has to do..." "Humor me just a moment longer. And Huls on Jedatha VI, roughly 8 million?" "Yes, but..." "Ulkor on Lish III, another 9 million. I believe you have family there... a sibling?" "Yes. What does this have to do with..." "With my thesis? Nothing. And everything. They also have everything to do with that lesson I mentioned. Especially since they now no longer exist." Niobe calmly tapped a few controls on her datapad and the holo in the middle of the room lit up. Spread across it were news feeds from the Hegemon, showing satellite images of the unmistakable star bursts of nuclear detonations intercut with footage from the surface showing rising mushroom clouds as cities incinerated. L'hish was speechless, xis face slack in horror, dumbfounded as xe tried to process what xe was seeing. Xe turned as Niobe spoke again, her voice taking on a pedagogical air. "And now, your promised lesson: We don't play fair; we fight dirty as hell, tooth and nail with every fiber of our being. We will sacrifice anything, destroy everything, accept mutual annihilation as victory, and would rather be extinct than subjugated. We have had these safeguards in place for years, ever since we determined that you more than likely would decide to try your military conquest on us one day. I really hoped we'd never have to use it." "But... those were civilians... innocents... how could you do somethings so... monstrous?" Niobe laughed, a cold hard laughter that rang from the walls, that chilled L'hish to xis cartilage. "That's the thing, Mx. Ambassador. We are monsters. We have tried not to be, but here we are. It was the conclusion of my thesis: Humanity is made of monsters, monsters that need better ways. That is why I am a diplomat, to try and keep us from being such if we don't have to be. And then the Hegemon had to go and press that great big 'do not push' button. Shame." L'hish's comm buzzed insistently. Niobe sipped her coffee, and selected a nibble from a plate. "You should take that. I imagine the Council of Princes have something urgent to say. Let me know if they need more lessons."	An excerpt from Species Relations Within The Tri-Galactic Sector, Kirkkolan F. [Hawkens Joseph trans.], G.I. 1445, Grand Triumvirate Library. #14. Newcomers ##III. Humanity While we might discuss at length the effect Tri-Galactic (relative) newcomers might have on inter-species relations, none is more deserving or paradigm-destroying as the self described Homo Sapiens, A.K.A Humanity. While the humans have only been apart of the Galactic Triumvirate for 400 intervals (the reader might recall that Spacrals had introduced themselves 3500 intervals ago, a difference of nearly a full power of ten), they have clearly made the largest impact seen in this ‘new expansion’ era, bringing peace to both lesser and greater species, and attaining a representative seat on the Grand Council in record time. Throughout this book I have presented each species through the lens of their First Contact War, but amazingly I cannot continue this tradition for Humanity as they did not have an FCW. Despite the fact that they made First Contact with the infinitely irritable and belligerent Monglas resulting in a small skirmish, the humans have noted that they universally celebrated this interaction across their controlled sectors. Above all, humans are social creatures, to the point that they have essentially forced themselves into a universal peace, lest they be unable to act socially with any of their own. However, this lead to a collective loneliness within their species, as they had yet to discover any trace of alien life. When I was conversing with an “anthropologist” (in short, a human occupation dedicated to studying their own distinct cultures), they described to me that the human race as a whole was experiencing a lack of social excitement as their own society had homogenized to the point where they felt an extreme lack of discovery. Their word for this is as strange as it is difficult to pronounce (for many of us without flexible mouths at least): “ennui”. This feeling of ennui became so strong that the goal of First Contact became an almost religious belief in their society, the one thing that would save them from ultimate stagnation. When humanity fought against the Monglas, they did not despair at faltering in the face of a technologically superior fleet, nor mourned the deaths of their comrades, but rather cheered that they no longer had to face the void of space alone. This led them to disrupting the Monglas’ usual singleminded violence as they translated and began communicating with the alien fleet in record time. While the Monglas fleet could not be described as ‘peaceful’ in this moment, they were so confused by the human reaction that they decided to simply retreat. The remainder of Humanity’s history in the GT will only slightly differ as, more so than any other species, they unilaterally push for peace and friendship for all. The reader might scoff at such a naïve goal for a species, but one only needs to spend a single evening with a human to understand that they truly desire only companionship both as an individual, and as an entire distinct society of beings. Some might argue that humans are a flawed, simpering species because of this. I would agree, however I encourage the reader to view this as a benefit to our great Tri-Galactic Sector, as it is a wholly unique culture among us, and one that has prevented many conflicts across the intervals. As we progress through the rest of this section I intend to present….. _______ Continued in comment replies
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	I am Azar Himolin , former general of the inter-systems fleet. If you are watching this you are either a future officer of what remains of our might, a diplomat in training, learning why your first lesson is about leaving humanity alone, or enough time has passed for some classified documents to be released to the public without heads rolling. sigh I am not proud of us, us Kutyln as a species, us of the military, and especially not us politicians. What I am about to tell you is how we, the strongest might in the galactic cluster, started a war of aggression against a weak species and miserably lost. The Elders are the longest standing space-faring civilization in the cluster, and when a species reaches the point of crossing the void between galaxies they will establish contact. We joined the cluster super civilization that way and so did humanity, they are, or maybe were, the most recent addition. During the first century we found out that humans as individuals are prone to anger and quite belligerent, especially in small groups, but as a species they abhorred war, always resorting to talks, bribes and other shame they called 'diplomacy'. Only maintaining a small standing army to respond to minor aggressions and protect their peace. So, we decided to invade, we could take over a galaxy worth of ressources and it was already explored, with communication and transport channels. The first few offensives went quite well, a handful of patrol crafts utterly useless in front of our battle groups. Humans still clinged to their peaceful ways, asking for cease fire and talks. One day, the council decided to humour them and we received their diplomatic mission. One man. They send one single man, and it was clear to us that he was no diplomat, a high ranking officer in full uniform, a rugged fellow, a former soldier that fought his way through multiple conflicts. Why would they send what we could only think of a a fellow warmonger as a diplomat ? I want you to see who he was. Another video starts to play, a camera feed from the Kutyln council room "I am Thomas Glint, Colonel of the Milky Way Ground Forces, I come here before you asking for peace, asking you to leave the systems you've taken from us and pay reparations, you violated numerous laws set by the Elders and are standing right before Humanity's bottom line. This is an ultimatum and an advice, cease this war, do not cross this line. Do not mistake kindness for weakness !" The camera feed pauses, the voice of the general sounding over it We did not take those words to heart, that was our first mistake, remember that last sentence well, because it was the crux of it all and it haunted me for years after we realized what we did. Our second mistake was believing in the pride of a high ranked military man, in our form of pride. The image goes back to the general The following part is still highly classified and frankly quite gruesome. That man, Colonel Thomas André Glint, taught us everything we needed to know about humanity but we realized to late. We continued to berate him, and were prepared to end it, no diplomat ever came back alive, he was not to be the first and he knew it. He had a chemical bomb implanted before coming and it was not found be the multiple security checkpoints he went through. That man didn't have the pride to stand above all lower ranks like our officers did, he had the pride to go as low as needed for his people. The blast outright killed two councilmen, severely injuries five, two of which would also die soon after and all of us suffered for years of the aftermath. We learnt a lot during the war, we had to face humanity in its entirety as th whole population supported the war effort and rallied behind figureheads and standard bearers, never to surrender. Everything came back to the colonel: we had mistaken their kindness, we cornered them and we created a martyr. We had stood before their bottom line, and had we just taken a step forward maybe we could have backpedalled at some point, but we didn't just cross that line, we launched ourselves as far over as we could have. I am ashamed, I am weary, but most importantly I am sorry, sorry towards the young Kutyln for being one of those that lost our heritage, sorry towards humanity for what I did. Sorry I did not understand what I was taught soon enough. Click (First time writing one of those, but for once the stories in my head wanted to come out. Any feedback and criticism welcome as I have difficulties stringing thought and thus paragraphs together and as English is not my native language.)	I stare as reports blink onto my viewscreen in droves. Cities burned. Continents irradiated. People, military and civilian alike, massacred in droves. I sigh, my hearts heavy with grief. I warned the Council. I did. "Seek out their historical databases, study their art, learn about them." But they would not listen to me, and only because I am a secretary. I select the reports on the screen and press "compile." Instantly, the reports enter a single file, ready to be sent to every Councilperson and every general. "They are peaceful," the Councilor from the Ratha system had scoffed. "A broken treaty will be brushed off, a new one written, and all will be well." Now he and his world were dust, killed by the sheer heat of a ruthless bombing. "We need the prolithum," the Councilor from the Lirtol system had added. "Their primitive technologies don't use it." Now his children were missing, along with half the population of their continent. I wipe a tear from the corner of my single gray eye. Too late. We were too late. The worlds the humans had taken were the most strategic. Our weapons stockpiles had been cut in half. If only we had known! If only they had listened.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	Executions are all the same. Pleading, begging, crying. Mere words. Words do not stay the executioner's hand. Words are silenced by the sword. Garmunda, First of the Axelthorns and High Admiral of the Crimson Fleet, stood on the bridge of Capital ship Stormseed. To her side, four thousand warships; to her front, Earth. Earth, home of the humans. A weak race. All they used were words. "All ships prepare for assault" Garmunda announced, her words carried to her eight million soldiers - a full sixty percent of Axelthorn's fighting force. There was just one thing left to do... "Call the Human Council." A screen appeared, connecting Garmunda with humanity's six leaders over video link. "Any last words, humans?" Garmunda snarled. To Garmunda's surprise, her bluster fell on only one pair of ears. Councilor Heroku had answered alone. He was calling from an unusual place - a spaceship bridge? - and he wore a rugged uniform instead of his ceremonial robes. "We've already tried words" replied Councilor Heroku. His voice was steel, his gaze resolute. The vast expanse of space around the Crimson Fleet rippled as countless warships warped in from hyperspace. Sleek battle cruisers, lascannons already firing; enormous carriers, spewing two-seater dogfighters; and Capital ships, rivalling Stormseed in size and armament, bristling with guns ablaze. "Weapons free, FIGHT!" Garmunda shrieked across her battle comms. She whirled her attention back to the screen. "Where in tarnation did you mass that fleet?" she demanded of Heroku. "Negotiating? Now?" Heroku answered. "We've always had our fleet. We use our swords when words fail." A lascannon bolt ripped into Stormseed's superstructure, knocking Garmunda over. "It seems you do the opposite."	I stare as reports blink onto my viewscreen in droves. Cities burned. Continents irradiated. People, military and civilian alike, massacred in droves. I sigh, my hearts heavy with grief. I warned the Council. I did. "Seek out their historical databases, study their art, learn about them." But they would not listen to me, and only because I am a secretary. I select the reports on the screen and press "compile." Instantly, the reports enter a single file, ready to be sent to every Councilperson and every general. "They are peaceful," the Councilor from the Ratha system had scoffed. "A broken treaty will be brushed off, a new one written, and all will be well." Now he and his world were dust, killed by the sheer heat of a ruthless bombing. "We need the prolithum," the Councilor from the Lirtol system had added. "Their primitive technologies don't use it." Now his children were missing, along with half the population of their continent. I wipe a tear from the corner of my single gray eye. Too late. We were too late. The worlds the humans had taken were the most strategic. Our weapons stockpiles had been cut in half. If only we had known! If only they had listened.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	<<Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum>>. <<He who desires peace, shall prepare for war>>. The great roman writer Vegecio said those words 2500 years ago and, even as mankind has ventured into space, we have not forgotten, for ours is a history filled with war and death. When mankind found out we were not alone in the universe, and that other intelligence civilisations were able to compete or surpass our dominance, something switched in our collective mind. In a matter of decades, inner wars became a thing of the past. Yes, we had our struggles and ocasional conflicts, but never again a full war between human factions was declared. Yet, our greatest weapon against the alien invaders were not our missiles or plasma cannons: it was our diplomats. Most conflicts were avoided by wise words, secret deals and the sorts. We resorted to cultural exchange, to accept some members of other species as some sort of exchange students and workers. We sent humanitary aid to those planets, no matter the species, that were struggling with famine, plagues or wars. We gathered a good reputation among others. It was a golden age of exploration, diplomacy and cultural and scientific advances. We were at peace, for the first time in our long history. But peace cannot last forever. And we were prepared for it. However, we were not prepared enough. The Balishtar Empire did not issue any warnings or demmands. Six months ago, they launched a massive offensive on our borders, and several planets were lost. The Balishtar were a race that had refused most contacts with us: reptilian in nature and aspect, extremely xenophobic and militaristic. We thought they wanted to conquer our planets and populace, maybe enslave them... but not that. Not what the scarce resistance managed to broadcast through the FTL network. They butchered the citizens. They did execute our brothers and sisters. Even when they surrendered, even when they were defenseless, even when they were not a threat anymore. The images were broadcasted to every single planet, moon, asteroid, ship and station of our civilisation. It was genocide. And the Balishtar were advancing towards Navion Prime. Navion Prime wasis a trading planet. There are some military bases on the surface, and some orbital defenses as well, but not enough. A rushed evacuation was declared, as we sent some fleets to delay the enemy, and every single pilot available tried to evacuate as many citizens as they could. It was not enough, there were billions of people in Navion Prime. But, in mist of this chaos, a video message was sent to every single human colony and ship. An woman in her early sixties, dressed in military fatiges, adressed us: "This is Lieutenant Commander Sariah, from the thirteenth assault regiment. As you well know, Navion Prime is the next target of the Balishtar genocidal campaign, and we are unable to stop their fleets. High Command has ordered to evacuate the planet and let the enemy take it. I refuse to follow those orders. They can court martial themselves. At this moment, I am leading my regiment to Navion Prime. Our objective is to delay the enemy long enough to give our forces the time to gather and counterattack. And I ask you: if you have any military background, if you can fly a combat capable ship of any size, if you have experience on the battlefield, or even if you just want to help us: join us in Navion Prime. I will not lie to you: I do not believe we can win. But I swear to God, we will delay them! If When and if they get over us, they will find the might of our fleets kicking their sorry asses back to their homeworld!!" And it was enough. Enough for every single company to dedicate their resources to the war effort. Enough for millions to enlist in the army. Enough for me, among many others, to join the defense of Navion Prime. This happened two weeks ago. Five days ago, the exterior defense stations engaged the enemy. Yesterday, our orbital defenses opened fire on the enemy advance. Two hours ago, the last defense point was destroyed. One hour ago, I took off from one of the hidden airfields of the planet. "All squadron leaders: orbital drops detected, sending coordinates", my radio roars. I check the data and I feel fear, excitement, decission. My fingers clasp around the controls of my ship. "All fighters, follow my signal! Wings one to thirteen, engage enemy ships, everyone else, target the drop pods before they reach the ground!" My comrades roar their responses in the comms. I push the throttle forward as the augmented reality display shows what my eyes can't see in the distance: hundreds of enemy ships are entering the atmosphere. I chuckle. "We are outnumbered five to one! Don't you dare to die without killing some fucking crocodiles!!" The sky lits up with the fire of atmospheric defenses. We know we cannot win, but hell, they will regret the day they decided to declare war on humanity. They thought we were weak because we chose peace. What they don't yet know is that it was just a choice, and that war has always been in our nature. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ EDIT: Grammar	I stare as reports blink onto my viewscreen in droves. Cities burned. Continents irradiated. People, military and civilian alike, massacred in droves. I sigh, my hearts heavy with grief. I warned the Council. I did. "Seek out their historical databases, study their art, learn about them." But they would not listen to me, and only because I am a secretary. I select the reports on the screen and press "compile." Instantly, the reports enter a single file, ready to be sent to every Councilperson and every general. "They are peaceful," the Councilor from the Ratha system had scoffed. "A broken treaty will be brushed off, a new one written, and all will be well." Now he and his world were dust, killed by the sheer heat of a ruthless bombing. "We need the prolithum," the Councilor from the Lirtol system had added. "Their primitive technologies don't use it." Now his children were missing, along with half the population of their continent. I wipe a tear from the corner of my single gray eye. Too late. We were too late. The worlds the humans had taken were the most strategic. Our weapons stockpiles had been cut in half. If only we had known! If only they had listened.
[WP] We “knew” humans were weak as they avoided every war with diplomacy. We never imagined they’d be this ruthless & how seemingly overnight they went from peaceful beings to a state they call “TOTAL WAR”. War is in their blood & soul. They thrive on it, mostly when the odds are against them	It squeezed its gun in its hand as it carefully poked its head around the corner of the pile of rubble that once was a building. Close to the ground, slowly, but not a split second longer than absolutely necessary as it had been taught. It was called Tel'moreen. It was a living Weapon, born to kill human living Weapons. Made to kill human soldiers. And currently, it was alone. The rest of its former unit hadn't been able to get out of the valley as the gas-bombs dropped. It had been at the front of the unit, surviving just barely long enough for its medi-suite to get it back on its feet. It considered the situation it was in. A city of its progenitors. A former city. Right now, it was just a bunch of rubble and the occasional two or three floors of a building still standing. Plenty of places for an enemy sniper. It had its orders though. When the lead of its unit was eliminated, it was to return to the nearest control point and be reassigned. The nearest point was on the other side of the former city. so there was no option. It had to make it to the other side. Tel'moreen took a breath, braced itself, and broke into a sprint. As it ran, it kept its head moving. The humans had been favouring spike traps, trip wires and all sorts of other ways to maim rather than kill from the very instant that the war had gone from following the intended path. It could understand the logic there. A soft race that worried about every unit like the humans would fight in a way that capitalized on that. Weigh the enemy down with injured units, slow the advance, buy time to turn every encounter into a butchery. Sensible. And, entirely unlike the humans. For Tel'moreen's kind, the logic didn't really apply. Damaged weapons were either repaired or, if that would take too long, abandoned. Still, the human traps were an endless frustration, thinning out units one Weapon at a time. Tel'moreen dived into cover, allowing itself a moment to breathe. It hadn't been shot, its legs hadn't been blown up by any improvised trap, the pain in its lungs wasn't slowing it down too much just yet. It could keep going, it would just need a moment for... 'maintenence.' Reaching to its hip, it pushed a button that made its medi-suite re-assess its status. ...no change, no additional painkillers to numb the burn. All it could do was to wait until the burning sensation in its chest died down. Time spent waiting was time wasted, but rushing would have been worse. So, it reflected on the battles it fought in. It reflected on the first breath it drew, roughly three Terran years ago. It repeated the lessons it had been taught. About how the humans had been undeserving of the place they held. About how they were soft and refused to fight, even in the face of an Enemy that by all rights, even they would have been able to crush. About how they keps insisting on "talking" instead of letting their Weapons enforce their supposed claims. Tel'moreen grit its teeth. Dart the head out for as little time as possible. Look for the obvious sniper nests. Note the next piece of cover. Note how all the bodies of the other Weapons all fell to the right. Sniper on the left. Circle around. Head out. Tel'moreen dived out of cover, ensuring to keep cover on its left, circling around the apparent kill-zone, just barely managing to cancel its run into a jump and a roll over a thin, nearly invisible wire leading into a pipe. Its first leader had had its legs blown off by a human-made 'hand grenade' hidden in a pipe just like that. Tel'moreen was a well-honed Weapon. It wouldn't blunt itself on the Enemy's weapon any more. It just barely managed to get into cover behind what had been a resitental block, but now didn't reach higher than two floors. Again, the burn from the gas attack was acting up. In the back of its mind, it wondered if it would be decommissioned once it reconnected with high command. The thought was dismissed quickly. Decomissioning was not a threat. Decomissioning was part of being a Weapon and a high honor. Still, Tel'moreen wouldn't be able to keep going for much longer, its lungs burning in its chest. It slumped against the wall, the big pile of rubble right across from it offering cover from... enough sides. It was a solitary target. Even the humans wouldn't waste effort on it, unless it happened to be a target of opportunity. It reflected on when the war had gone off-course. ...It had gone off-course very early on. Tel'moreen had been there, after all. The first attack on a "civilian" target, the opening salvo of the war. A clear-cut signal: "Yield. We will destroy your Weapons, regardless of how long it takes for them to become useful." It never made much sense to Tel'moreen how human Weapons started out as a distinct Caste. Its own species' system made sense: ensure that every member is born knowing what it should do, rather than letting something as fickle as "opinion" or "desire" decide what one's path in life would be. After all, that had been the entire idea behind the initial strike. If any human can "learn" to become a Weapon, but every human starts out with little to no idea what they want to be, kill them before they can decide. Sure, you end up killing everything from Builders to Parents to Leaders to Weapons, but that was the humans' problem. A Weapon is a Weapon from the first moment it draws breath. That is a fact. If a newly born Weapon cannot be distinguished from a newly born Leader, or a newly born Parent, then the only sensible course of action was to kill all "children." If anything, the humans' faillure to properly identify their ofsprings' life path left Tel'moreen with no better option. Kill the "children" before they could "decide" to become Weapons. Tel'moreen itself had proudly joined in a directed attack on the "school" itself. The humans should have expected an attack there, with that many "children" in one place. The burning in its lungs had subsided enough. It got up, ignoring the burn in its legs. Ignoring the moment in which its vision swam, ignoring all the little pains of trying to rush its way back to the command post. Another brief peek around the corner. ...Odd, no bodies between it and the entrance of the command post. The walls were battered but standing, the banners were up, the sentries were standing straight. A sniper spot just a few dozen paces back, and it didn't shoot the sentries? ...Irrelevant. Orders were orders. Tel'moreen took a deep, chest-burning breath, and broke into a sprint. It could feel its body strain under the effort, but it kept going. It felt felt its legs stumble, but it kept going. It felt a bullet just barely miss it (wait, barely? While it was running in a straight line?) but it kept going. It all but dove through the wide-open entrance of the command post, the rough road grinding against its chest until it came to a halt- with a human boot against its head. "And that's twenty. Told you it would be worth taking this shithole," the distinctly human voice spoke up while the foot pressed down harder, keeping it from so much as looking up. "Hold on, Peeler, this one's got one of thowe blue stripes! Like the rest of those shit-lickers from the first wave!" "Dang! Almost missed that... Eh, whatever." Tel'moreen's gun was ripped out of its hands before it could try and push itself into a fighting stance, while its arms were forced behind its back. It should have been able to fight back, to push back but the damage from that gas-attack just days prior was sapping its strength, leaving it forced to its knees. Humans. Not even human Weapons, lacking the distinctive equipment marking human Weapons. Just some assortment of non-Weapons, several of which were holding various guns and other Weapon-equipment with the trained ease of a Weapon. "So!" spoke one of them. Tel'moreen was observant, and decided that this must have been the 'Peeler' the other Human mentioned, "Blue stripe, huh?" "...Yes. I have been awarded with a blue stripe as a member of the leading charge," Tel'moreen confirmed. Denying it would have gone against its teachings. "OK. You get one chance," 'Peeler' said while several of the other human non-Weapons made some low-volume noise with the guns they held. A kind of clicking noise. "Were you involved in the strike against Elysium Elementary School?" "Yes, that was where I earned my blue stripe." Several of the non-Weapons made noises, but it did not matter. They were not Weapons. They couldn't harm a Weapon. "Honest to a fault then. Last chance, then. Why did you do it?" 'Peeler' speaks up. "I had my orders," was the last thing Tel'moreen managed to say, before the non-Weapons opened fire.	I stare as reports blink onto my viewscreen in droves. Cities burned. Continents irradiated. People, military and civilian alike, massacred in droves. I sigh, my hearts heavy with grief. I warned the Council. I did. "Seek out their historical databases, study their art, learn about them." But they would not listen to me, and only because I am a secretary. I select the reports on the screen and press "compile." Instantly, the reports enter a single file, ready to be sent to every Councilperson and every general. "They are peaceful," the Councilor from the Ratha system had scoffed. "A broken treaty will be brushed off, a new one written, and all will be well." Now he and his world were dust, killed by the sheer heat of a ruthless bombing. "We need the prolithum," the Councilor from the Lirtol system had added. "Their primitive technologies don't use it." Now his children were missing, along with half the population of their continent. I wipe a tear from the corner of my single gray eye. Too late. We were too late. The worlds the humans had taken were the most strategic. Our weapons stockpiles had been cut in half. If only we had known! If only they had listened.

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