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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	We've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	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."	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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	Senator Pysto of Ravlotl moved through the cramped, iron and wooden interior of his home. His new home, at least. What remained of his species existed underground, though the senator chose to remain above ground in an armored bunker. It was not unlike the pillboxes of old earth, but with smaller, round passages made of cylindrical tubular metal. The interior was paneled with wood to simulate a home, but the lack of windows and light killed the illusion. Additionally the senator was tall for a member of his species, and the bunkers were cramped at the best of times. At least he did not have to share these cramped quarters. He was alone. Alone.. He stepped over piles of papers and empty cans. There was no way to step outside to remove refuse without his heat signature attracting an orbital lance. At least he had time to finish his history. The history of the war. The end of his people. The Ravlotl were a race not dissimilar from felines, with wide, golden eyes and sharp tufts around the chin and cheeks. Laid out in a humanoid style, the senator's old auburn fur was stricken gray with stress. His back had developed an unnatural hump. He went to the composing room, a place stacked with holo slivers and classical reed papers, with a single round window staring out at the sulfurous yellow sky of his home. He pressed a button on the desk and a holographic display appeared before him, mirroring his face. A red light blinked in the corner. "... Where was I.. They have had orbital supremacy for six months now. Our star fleet and ground forces are obliterated. We are at their mercy but we have not yet received terms. I learned this morning through entangled comms that the Ulvitih home world is gone. They destroyed it utterly with their atomics. The sheer amount of resources they burned for no other reason to see the world uninhabitable is beyond logic. No one in the Consensus would believe it if it had not happened. I have also learned that I am the only remaining member of the Ravlotl government." He paused to withdraw a piece of cloth and bring it to his mouth, coughing sputum from his aged and sick lungs into it. "My previous tapes recorded the events of the war, but not the reason. All the species of the Consensus have been focused on the events, because to us, reason is still our god. Even the foolish Ulvitih had reasons for what they did. Ignorant as they were. I include in this holo slice a report from a colleague of mine, Ras Atha, a correspondant on the Earth homeworld. She sent this, shortly before being imprisoned on crimes against the Earth state. I doubt we will see one another again, either because the humans have killed one of us, or both, or the Elder takes this body from me and returns my spirit to the loam. ..I reminisce. Ras Atha's report eludicated something none of us understood about the Earth race. The species is entirely mad. Every member of the Consensus has one thing in common - a deeply held respect for the process of Reason. It is understood that no species could pass through industrialization or weather the dangers of interstellar flight without Reason. Much less, discover these arts in the first place. As such, terms are always agreed upon when joining the Consensus. War is an expected outcome, but we did not grasp what war meant to Earth when it began. Why would we be concerned, after all? One planet in a hundred thousand is taken, changes hands. Some go to prisons, others are slain. In the galactic scheme, it means nothing. A dozen lives on a far flung world. Planetary resources that could only be used on the frontier. You would have to care about that frontier to care about those resources. We know that we will war at times. Worlds will be traded diplomatically or militarily. Our home worlds remain safe. No one bothered to explain this reality to the Earth, much less investigate how their society functions. The species is schizophrenic. It exists in a delicate balance between two extremes, one ruled by god Reason and the other by the ignorant, savage impulses of their pack dwelling ancestors. Ras Atha discovered their society swings from one polar opposite to the other - A period of Reason that creates rapid technological development, and a period of Ignorance that stagnates this process. At times there appears to be a balance between the forces, but it is an illusion. The pendulum always swings. We met the humans in such a period of Reason. Being right in the middle of the neutral zone, they had a reletively short distance to travel to the Consensus senate. Their peaceful approach left us fooled, and we admitted them rapidly. We shared technology with them, and.. We all know how rapidly they colonized space. Then the Ulvitih attacked their colony on S-163. They came to us and pleaded for justice, for intervention. We did not understand. S-163 had no value to anyone. Yes, ten thousand souls were lost, but they chose to continue fighting. Of course they were slain. That is War. But they kept on with Justice. We did not understand when they said Revenge. It is a word we stopped using when we gained enough age to Reason. By slaughtering their colonists the Ulvitih triggered the pendulum, and the savagery came forth. This is what you must understand! Their ancient, pack dynamic came back. They became insular. Violent. Even those among them that clung to Reason were forced to submit themselves to the ancient instincts or be expelled from the pack. They operated on a type of logic wherein everything not in their pack was a potential threat to be utterly slain. No slaves, no trading of worlds, only death. In their history they did this even to themselves, inventing arbitrary standards for pack inclusion or summary execution. See included file on concept Fascism. The Ulvitih were not prepared for their concept of total war. The humans attacked and were repelled. Yet they did not understand that Ulvitih would not destroy their Home world. They did not trust. Perhaps they enjoyed killing all along. This is why they would not withdraw! They attacked again, and soon found some flaw in the Ulvitih. They began to win. Worlds fell, and the Ulvitih sent questioning treaties to the Earth. They received only ridiculous demands they called a "Peace Treaty." In their history these were required to end hostilities - Because otherwise hostilities would not end before all humans had extinguished all other humans. Ulvitih did not understand. Ulvitih thought they would stop on their own. Ulvitih thought the death of a dozen worlds for the measly ten thousand they had slain was a curiosity. I imagine they enjoyed killing the way humans did, but they did not understand total war. The humans would not stop until every Ulvitih was dead, because they would never feel safe again until they had done so. Reason was gone. When the Ulvitih home world cracked under the weight of their atomic weapons, the Consensus froze. We had never dared to imagine one species driving another to extinction. The Ravlotl intervention was not intended to extinct the humans, merely slay the ones that were attempting to slay the remaining Ulvitih. We wanted to save a species. But the Earth did not see it this way. To them, now it was all of us. Every Consensus species was a different pack. They would not be safe until we were dead, as well." The Senator stopped. The bones in his neck cracked as he looked out the window. There was a glow behind the yellow clouds. It moved. It was not the sun. "I do not know if any of the Consensus species will find this message, or if it will be eliminated when the Earth decides to break our world. I will entangle it, but who will find the signal buoy I cannot know. Listen well - The Earth has lost it's connection to god Reason. It is possible to slay them, perhaps, violate our oldest beliefs. It may be necessary. Before it comes to that, be warned. Do not underestimate them. In this state they are dark reflections of themselves. I pray one of the Consensus can reach them, lead them back to Reason. I pray it fervently. If it is not possible, I beg of you - Avoid them, and if you cannot, extinct them. You must defend yoursel-" A rumbling in the distance met his old ears. His eyes rolled up mid sentence to see the shock wave rolling over the old capital, already bombed into a display more like jagged teeth than the metropolis that once was. The shock wave engulfed it instantly. The Senator's eyes dilated from the bright light, and his black lips turned to a frown before his eyes went blind. The wave rolled over his shelter, turning everything from golden to bright white light.	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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.	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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	[[Translated excerpt of "The Fall of the Ky'hree," a simian warrior race which once ruled an empire spanning twelve systems. Students are expected to write an essay detailing the tactical mistakes the Ky'hree empire made in the historic assault on the human homeworld of Earth, which sparked the warm-blooded war and subsequent near extinction of the Ky'hree at the hands of the human race. Some terms may no longer exist in current universal common. These terms will be given an appropriate substitute.]] We were woefully unprepared. Our first strike was on the <mid-western> continent. A surprise attack, which we had hoped would gain us a foothold, was made on what all our intelligence had revealed to be their most financially stable quadrant of the planet. We believed that crushing them here would destabilize their global economy and destroy the morale of the humans. Easily, we destroyed them, in our first of a series of battles that were meant to span the globe. The continent fell quickly. "Europe," the humans called it. It was lush, temperate, and the people soft. How the troops laughed at how easy this planet would be to take. This was the last time I saw many of them, and the few I saw again have yet to express what could be considered <joy> since that day. We set up a base zero and began the second stage of our plan to take this world for our own. We sent troops to the <south>, with instructions to take everything and use what we could. Our home was far away, and it would be several months before the <technical crews> finished punching the wormhole to connect the <supply train>. Before long, our <southern forces> were reporting mass casualties from what I can only describe as the planet itself siding with its denizens. Incredulous, I read through the mountains of casualty reports. Many reports spoke of humans in mountains, in caves, in watercraft, firing automatic weapons into the troops. Those who were not killed in these ambushes were taken by wildlife or disease. How humans live with these creatures, I will never understand. Within weeks, we had lost contact with the forces we sent down <south>. The few returnees spoke in fevered tongues, of large creatures with larger teeth which could bite clear through a carapace and snap an anodized exoskeleton with ease, and of clouds of parasites which would bite and sting and leave victims dying of plague. We looked for another foothold, and marched <east>, into the <northern> section of the <eastern continent>. This time, we were wiser, and prepared for the vicious beasts that surely awaited us. We interrogated the human prisoners. Most <laughed>, but one told us of a human <warlord>, who once led his men in a great march to take the very same land. He <stared> into my <eyes> and ended his story with, "be like Napoleon. I want to see it." I should have taken that for the warning it was. Nothing could have prepared my soldiers for what I sent them into. The bitter cold was as unceasing as the attempts by the humans to destroy the very land under our forces' feet. The troops fought for every <centimeter> forward, as their protective barrier covering was pushed to the limit by the barrage of explosives that never truly seemed to stop. Eventually, as the barrier began to fade, the troops began to retreat, but it was too late for many. The frigid temperatures overpowered the <thermal regulators> in the <habitats> of my troops. Many of them froze to death before they could make it back to Europe. We were forced to abandon much of our equipment, the first in a series of events that would enable the human forces to equip themselves and follow us back to our empire. With two failures, I decided to send a second assault vessel to the <western> quadrant of the world. This would turn out to be the greatest tactical mistake I could have made. The moment the assault craft broke the <stratosphere>, it was met with a nuclear armament. I was forced to watch as my men fired out of their escape pods and were scattered among the <northern> two <continents>. Explosions mirrored the sudden silencing of the emergency signals the pods sent to the command craft as they were summarily destroyed before they made landfall. I had one final plan; I would send the last of my forces to the large <southeastern> island. Orbital scans revealed this place was much more arid than other environments on the planet, but I believed that a pincer movement from "Europe" would allow me to take the large population of the central landmass as a slave force to conquer the rest of the <continent>. My troops didn't stand a chance. The reports of my soldiers were that of disappearances. There would be howling in the <night>, screams, and men would be gone. Still others reported large insects that would kill a soldier with a single bite, or bipedal creatures with large tails. I commanded a retreat, but the humans had already snuck in and stolen the landing craft. I was forced to retreat as the human forces followed a return protocol the assault ships had to my command ship. I should have stayed and died with my men. I should not have given the humans a clue to the location of our empire. I write this as a warning to my superiors and to any who may read this in the future. The humans are not weak. They are dormant. They are settled. And if you engage them, do not expect mercy.	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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	Everyone always assumed that the alien invasion would be violent. After our satellites had discovered spacecraft that we couldn't track to any nation's space program, my father began stockpiling weapons. Okay, he had been doing that already, but he began to stockpile harder. At least, that was until the spacecraft made landing and their diplomats reached Africa, and instead of killing en masse, they simply began constricting homes. No one, really saw an issue, they had come in peace. Of course they saw resistance from local governments, but the United Nations did not have the strength to to back up the Ivory Coast in their war with the Bulmerians, and NATO was a shell of it's former self after America began cutting back it's contributions. Eventually after a while the UN adopted a resolution of peace with the Bulmerians after our diplomats figured out their language. Earthly Bulmeria was given a seat in the UN and began expanding its influence over world politics as they began trading with humans. That was over twenty years ago, and now their communications from their home planet had given the order to expand. Humanity had not fought any major wars in over 50 years, and the aliens mistook that for weakness. In a way we were weak, as our divided nations sought to appease them, with most of the world being tributaries. However, in rural Appalachia we could not stand the US government, and I'll be good god damned if I was gonna pay income taxes to some two bit blue skinned jackass king a hundred light years away. The first revolt happened in Ireland. After unification, they were already wary of all empires, so when the Dáil decided to appease them, Dublin erupted into riots, murdered almost all of parliament, and installed a new one, who refused to pay tribute. The Bulmerians invaded, but they had expected conventional warfare with NATO or a similar power. Instead, they found their aircraft, spacecraft and even landcraft being sabotaged. Evidently Bulmerians we're unable to distinguish human powers, and had no respect for nationhood. So when they began punishing other nations who were happy to pay tribute for the bombing of their embassy in Britain, the whole world rose up in revolt. And so I sat in my living room, watching an old movie called "Braveheart" and working on an IED. After my brigade captured a series of pulse grenades from the local Bulmerian military base, I had set upon reverse engineering them, and was ready to try an upscaled version of it. "And there, you ready to try it?" I asked to my friend and comrade Patrick. "Fuck no," he said "but there's a caravan coming through today, so we can try it then." We had set up an ambush. I had inherited a 2025 Toyota Hilux from my granddad and had mounted a rebuilt M2 Browning to the back. It wasn't the latest and greatest, but it still worked, even after over a hundred years of service. We had parked it in the bushes, away from immediate líne of sight. Once I heard the sonic boom of the pulse mine i knew it was time, and I gripped the ma deuce as Patrick screamed past the caravan. I rained down bullets onto the vehicles, screaming like a berserker. The caravan had grinded to a halt, and the Bulmerian soldiers leapt from their vehicles trying to fire upon us but we were long gone. We heard sounds of continued gunfire as our comrades tagged in, raining down with a DShK and tossing in Molotov cocktails for good measure. That was simply one ambush in the long guerilla war for the Appalachians, and that was only one front I'm our global struggle against Bulmeria. They still hold most of Africa, but they failed to realize one thing: humans really don't like bullies.	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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	Humans are the most dangerous when they know they have nothing to loose. When they know they can't win, they'll devout everything they have to make sure that you don't win either. They prefer mutually assured destruction before surrender. By a wide margin. Never put a human in a corner. All those tidbits of media that escape their bubble before they did showed mostly weak, groveling people, begging for mercy when put against a superior force. That only applied when they where dealing with their own kind. To anyone else, they're basically rabid beasts. Only engage a group of humans when you are absolutely sure you can eradicate them all in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it's a lose/lose scenario. I've learned this the hard way, and it's by the skin off my teeth that I live to tell about it...	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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 red light was blinking, indicating the failure of the shields, but the commander Ze’hyl could not be bothered. He was franticly looking through the data as the predictions of AI clearly did not match the reality, not anymore... It was his failure! He recommended the invasion of the Sol system. The home star of those gutless humans. \- How did it come to this?.. Decades of planning and analysis. These humans who would rather take the short end of a stick than show some spine. These… mammals who only know of negotiations, diplomacy, and compromise. Not a single interstellar conflict yet alone war since they joined the League. How are they doing this? It all went so well until we reached that small blue rock… The angry ichodrian drifted in thought as he was gazing upon the holographic display depicting the Sol system. \- Commendable effort for a race of a peace loving peons, it brought them some time but what of it or so I thought… Where all those ships, where all those troops came from? It cannot be technology, why would you lose so many positions if you had the means to defend them in the first place… Once again, he opened the human response to the declaration of war. The words sounded different from what he heard the first time. \- We hoped we could keep these doors closed forever. But now God help us all. As his mind was running through various scenarios, his eyes picked up on a small cloud of debris orbiting the sun in between the human home world and Venus. A strange thought formed in his head. \- What if, what if that cloud used to be a planet?... He updated the conditions for the AI and was met with despair. The predictions finally made sense and all it took was to name the cloud in between Venus and Mars a planet…	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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	"Emperor, High Chancellor of Earth on Luma link to you", an advisor notified Emperor Gaumph. "Link up." The emperor replied. Holo visage of an elderly human sitting behind a desk materialized in the middle of the throne room. "I presume this is about your mutual defense treaty with Lakilla?" The emperor asked the apparition. "Yes. You shall withdraw all your forces immediately, or there will be dire consequences." The emperor laughed. "Two puny defenseless races without so much as an army in a mutual defense treaty. What a joke. What are you going to do? Establish embargo on Coca-Cola? It's a popular drink among our people but our supplies will last until Earth is conquered and we'll have it without tariffs." "We will destroy your cities, stations, colonies and capital ships one by one, until you surrender or until your successor surrenders." "You and what army?" "I think you're not treating our threat seriously, so let me demonstrate our capacity." High Counsellor tapped something on the desk in front of him. Surely a map in holo; you can't visualize a holo in another holo so it wasn't visible. One of advisors sprung to alert. "Emperor, I just got a report, Acordia just exploded." "The capital ship?! How?! Raise shields on all ships and planets now!" "The signature is antimatter, about a kilogram worth of antimatter annihilated, the ship was literally wiped out!" "Ah, so a hyperspace torpedo. They caught us unaware, but now with shields up they can fire away. Every object of importance is protected." Chancellor tapped some other spot. Another advisor jumped up. "Emperor, the army colony of Maruja is gone!" "Did they fail to raise the shield?" "No, Emperor! The shield is still up, and filled with inferno left after an anti-matter explosion!" "Attack! Send the armada to Earth! Destroy them before they destroy more of our resources!" The chancellor shook his head. "I was afraid it would come to this. Let us hope your second-in-command is more reasonable." He tapped a spot on his desk. A Coca-Cola dispenser machine in the lobby of the Imperial Palace made a quiet ding. Then the palace and the emperor ceased to exist in an antimatter explosion.	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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	"Well, we knew the humans had a military. They had to, you see. The worlds they were colonizing were dangerous, lots of life forms that want nothing but to kill..." the old soldier trailed off, lost in his memories. "I understand sir, but..." I didn't want to be rude. Battle Commander Gorvg was a hero to the Pteron people, and one of the last to ever face a human in battle. So he was the perfect subject for my research. "Can we talk about what led to the war?" "I'm getting there, lots of background to cover. So anyway, they had a military, but they'd never used it. They were great talkers, could talk all 12 ears off a Nfalu! And so privately, a lot of species wanted to test the mettle of humanity. Had to find out if they could really make it in the universe." I glanced at the recorder. 2.5 hours already, and we hadn't even gotten to the fighting yet. "And then the Xaaluu decided they'd be the first." I laughed. "I'm sorry sir, the Xaaluu weren't around 2000 years ago. They died well before humans were discovered." Battle Commander Gorvg glared at me, his one good eye cold as ice. "You so readily believe your history books. The Xaaluu sent a Capital Battle Group to attack a new colony. 5 Capital ships, humans called them "Battleships", stupid name, all ships are battle ships. 10 Intermediate ships, and 20 Support ships per group." "Sir," I interjected. "Do you know what the humans called the other ships? Just for the record." "Cruisers and Destroyers, respectively. Good question, young one." He leaned back in his seat before continuing. "The colony had 2 'Heavy Frigates' for defense and carrying troops. Completely outclassed by the Xaaluu laser weaponry." "I can't imagine the fight lasted long, Sir." "No... it didn't. What no one realized was that the humans still fired metallic projectiles and had perfected energy shielding. And they had lots of guns on those ships. Those two ships put out more firepower in 5 minutes than the entire Xaaluu Battle Group could put out in a week." My notebook hit the floor. "We saw the scans. It took 5 minutes for those ships to kill a Capital Battle Group. And the humans didn't stop there. They sent their fleets, yes! Multiple fleets! Into Xaaluu space. We had never seen such destruction, such death." Gorvg's eye had glazed over, he wasn't in the room with me anymore; he was back there, 2000 years ago. "That's when the Pteron's joined the fight. And they hit us harder than we'd ever been hit before. Worlds burned, every ship they saw utterly destroyed. We surrendered in weeks. But the Xaaluu fought on, and humanity was only too happy to extinguish their civilization." Gorvg sighed before continuing, "and then, when they had won, they returned. With ships and doctors and aid and food... to help us rebuild our worlds. The rest of the Galactic Council decided to hide this history from everyone. No one could know that we lived next to monsters. The most destructive, compassionate monsters we'd ever seen. It's a Capital offense, talking about this history, you know." For a 3000 year old veteran, Battle Commander Gorvg's reflexes hadn't slowed at all. Before I had even processed his last sentence, he had drawn and primed two Atomizer pistols. "But I think it's time to remember, young human." He motioned to the closet door, and I noticed footsteps approaching. "There's a trapdoor in there, take the ladder down. You'll find everything you need. Holodisks, holodrives, all the evidence of that old war. Hurry now, I'll hold them long enough for you to get away." The footsteps were closer now. I could hear the voices of the warriors, angry. They wanted blood. I rushed to the trapdoor, threw it open, and started down the ladder. Just before I closed the hatch, I took one last look at the hero. Battle Commander Gorvg of the Pteron people. He was smiling.	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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 have no claimed that we were peaceful." Tobias said, a firm hand grasping the flag of the final human lands, the other curling tight around the hilt of his gun. It had been a long battle. A fight that took the lives of many brothers, fathers, and uncles. "I warned you. I told you that this war was pointless, that we would find a way to break free from you." Tobias jutted a finger in the Gamorians faces. For so long, the Garmorians were once their allies, their brothers in conflict. But that all changed with the underhanded tactics the Garmorians had used - had wielded to enslave the human race the moment an opportunity presented itself. It was just a moment of weakness. A lapsed of judgement on their behalf. They had trusted their friends from afar - the shared understanding. "I told you this - we will never give up." Tobias raised the gun in his hand. "I said that we would fight to the bitter end for our people." The gun weighed a millions tons as Tobias laid the barrel on the temple of his so-called brother. Al-fak, the man he'd thought he'd come to trust, to believe in, merely raised a groggy head, an eye turning over the field of dead filled with his people. "You told me you had no weapons against us." That had been a lie, of course. It was always a lie. Tobias cocked his gun. "A true leader would hide his last resort from invading beings." "A true friend would've been honest from the beginning." Al-fak said. "A 'real' friend, would've chose a different path than this." Tobias fought the whimper of sadness in his tone but failed to. Al-fak could only inhale sharply. He knew he was beaten the moment he'd attacked first. He'd bombed the hell out of the largest country on earth, and when his crew celebrated the fires that had burned, he'd lamented his decision. It had all been a sham from the beginning. From his first descent onto the world, he'd had his orders from the monarch that held his leash. He was to gain their trust, to gain their acceptance and then betray them - turning the planet into their new settlement. He will admit to a falter in his decision. When he'd first met Tobias, his compassion and kindness was a jarring experience that clouded his judgemeny. He'd thought it would be an easy task. A quick task. But he was wrong. The humans had known war better than the Garmorians. They had a better understanding of the cost for it. The pain it brought. The people it sacrificed... "Close your eyes," Tobias said. It was the only kindness he'd allow. Especially with the crowd of soldiers watching him. So, Al-fak did. He'd shut his eyelids tight and murmured his final words to his friend, "I'm sorry."	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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	Log 1.01 - 6462/55 Potential major new biodiversity harvest, Arm 4, stellar coordinates \[classified\]. Approximately 9 million identifiable species, DNA-based. Minor indigenous sapience, no world government, hive mind, or cybernetic control. Not even common language. 1.02 - 6462/56 Received message from imperial satrap, Council of Entities agrees with assessment, harvest of new world moved to top priority, codename Project Windfall. Biodiversity loss on Zor homeworlds considerably graver than generally leaked to non-Council Entities, new harvests to take priority over inorganic material harvests. Changing course to Windfall. 2.01 - 6462/87 Reached Windfall. Harvester ships Ixin, Cath, Roklut expected to arrive by 90-91. Recon drones deployed. 2.02 - 6462/89 Recon drones confirm probe drone. Massive biodiversity lode plus abundant liquid water. No organized opposition. Indigenous sapience in form of tribal/social primates, greater native intelligence than any other non-Zor species yet encountered, rudimentary AI capabilities, but most advanced capabilities used to fight other members of same species. Most advanced weapons are fission type, they hesitate to use them on one another only due to threat of retaliation in kind, but still an impressive accomplishment for a species with no guiding central authority. Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, will set aside additional share of the most bountiful harvest in the last millennium for the Zor if he'll sponsor additional seat on Council of Entities. 2.03 - 6462/92 Harvester ships arrived. Commencing harvest of Windfall. 2.04 - 6462/99 Native primate technology as expected is no match for ours. Multiple ape social colonies ("cities") razed and harvested. Resistance fierce but ineffective. 3.01 - 6462/120 Harvest progressing but slower than expected. Native primates behave in substantially unanticipated ways exposed to new stimuli. No significant trouble expected but we should perhaps pay attention to their social reaction complex as interesting in its own right, not mere biodiversity in a universe in which that always appears to be shrinking. 3.02 - 6462/160 Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, harvest can progress as things stand but additional armed escorts would assist. Native primates ("humans," they call themselves) demonstrate substantial adaptive capabilities, particularly with respect to martial capabilities. As you are aware, our weapons cannot be used by nonmembers of our species due to DNA coding that makes all our weapons cease function if held by an entity not of our species. In less than 50 days, these "humans" came up with the barbarous but effective adaptation of making gloves out of our skins, allowing them to hold our weapons and turn them against us. 3.03 - 6462/161 Humans merit further study after skin-stealing adaptation. Harvested multiple of their soldiers, of various ages, intact. Placed in stasis for further study. 3.04 - 6462/197 Almost all standard harvest protocols for problematic biodiversity surprisingly ineffective with respect to humans. Already considering resorting to Cleanser virus but degradation of the biodiversity haul of Windfall would substantially impair strategic objectives of harvest in the first place. 3.05 - 6462/249 Human population ongoing adaptation proving dangerous. Multiple counteroffensives and countermeasures somehow initiated spontaneously, imitating coordination with no coordinating authority or intelligence. Spontaneous organization of species-wide resistance including against orbital and ecological attacks. Apologies to the Council of Entities, but we cannot leave them alive. Initiating Cleanser virus, programming human DNA as primary target but DNA similarity of human and other biodiversity on this planet means harvest will be dramatically curtailed. 3.06 - 6462/259 - URGENT Cleanser virus largely successful but significant populations of humans remain alive. Moreover, those left alive appear to have sequenced and adapted it to attack us, somehow in the space of ten days. Expeditionary force and harvesters have withdrawn to ships. Will proceed with battle against humans and harvest Windfall with drone tech alone. Analysis at this point is pessimistic; drone tech alone unlikely to prevail given chaotic but frenetic adaptation of human species so far against Cleanser and other rogue biodiversity countermeasures. 4.01 - 6262/272 - URGENT Developing incident in progress in stasis chamber, unscheduled maintenance mode activations, emergency termination sequence malfunctioning. Human soldier prisoners may be loose onboard. 4.02 - 6462/272 - URGENT They are coming. Initiating self destruct. 5.01 - July 3, 2077 - YEAH, PROBABLY STILL URGENT Cool log. Looks like the self-destruct failed though. That kinda sucks. Sucks that we had to use your harvest ships to harvest the remains of most of our own cities, too, but there wasn't much left of them and at least your little flying factories helped us jumpstart our own fleet with all the metal of our old cities. Gotta live somewhere. And the view of Earth from space is still majestic even if y'all fucked it up on the surface. Oh, also, if you're reading this, just FYI ... we're still coming. Got nothing else to do now, and payback's a bitch. Signed, Humanity.	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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 still remember the look on Ambassador Ford’s (Betelgeusean Republic’s representative to the former Galactic Councils 300 BT – 5 TA) face when I informed him we had declared war on the pathetic Humans of the Terran Federation. His blue blood drained from his face, leaving a dirty yellow visage which had previously shone a healthy green. The only thing he said was ‘What have you done?’ which I thought wwas just due to Betelgeusean fondness for the cowardly pacifistic species. If only we had known the truth…” – Gragtun’iik’iill, Former Krillnean Ambassador to the Galactic Councils 89 BT – 7 BT Warfare has changed very little since the first slightly complex multicellular organisms began banding together to fight one another over limited resources. The equation generally comes down to who can out produce the other in manpower, supplies, or weapons. For as terrifying and powerful a new weapon system may be, it can still be outclassed by sheer volume. At the dawn of the Terran Alliance, a heavily modified version of this calculation was in use to determine the general effectiveness of galactic empires. The weapon system of the day, as for most navies throughout history, was the battleship. Advanced civilizations, such as The Betelgeusean Republic, were capable of building, crewing, and launching these behemoths in only 50 cycles. In 10 BT the rising Krillnean Empire felt that their armada, while small on the galactic scale, would be well equipped to destroy the peace loving, ever negotiating, Terran Federation. Afterall Terra had only 20 battleships in service, and had not completed a new such vessel in over 150 cycles. Krillnea was able to produce a vessel in as few as 80 cycles, and had a standing navy of over 500 ships. Additionally, due to the sensitive and specialized nature of the systems on board a starship, let alone a warship, a certain level of training and experience was required. This training and practical experience was extremely costly, and could take dozens of cycles for a Human to acquire, but for the long-lived children of the Krillnean Hives, born to carry out specific tasks, it was simple. The game of numbers, it seemed, was decided. As war commenced, the humans fought bravely to defend their colonies, but the numbers were against them. The Terran Fleet was destroyed in combat around Proxima Centauri, and colonies fell one after another. The Krillnean Armada advanced methodically, but sustained a far higher rate of losses than initially expected, which while concerning, was overshadowed by the rapid advance to the Human’s home system of Sol. The Battle of Sol (7 BT) was a turning point in the evolution of warfare. Standard practice had been to harvest asteroid, moons, rocky planetoids, and anything available for raw materials to process into Space Ship components. This took time, capital, and abundant resources. With the main Terran shipyards destroyed, and with access to her colonies cut off, the Terran Federation appeared to be teetering on extinction. What the Krillnean armada encountered upon entering the Sol system was not a scrambling mass of scared civilians, but a star system that had been entirely strip mined, and a brand new, incredibly massive fleet of “Warships” waiting for them. The Sol system had always been considered somewhat of an anomaly. It had not one but two asteroid belts surrounding it, one of which harbored several larger planetoids. While these raw materials would have been a boon to most industries, the density of the belts in Sol made harvesting these resources a very laborious and risky endeavor. Even then, those resources would need to be refined methodically, and carefully to ensure no errant debris might strike a vessel or colony, and standard practice was to dump the empty husks of these asteroids into the nearest star, where it may safely be consumed. The Terran Federation had several larger asteroids in stable orbits near their home planet of Earth, most were completely devoid of usable material and were merely awaiting their turn to be sent sunward. For Humanity they became salvation. Instead of building a warship from scratch, Terran engineers crawled over these husks, fitting them with reactors, weapons systems, thrusters, and crude life support systems. When manpower turned out to be lacking, regular civilians pitched in to help, many of them having never performed a spacewalk or heavy construction previously. In total, over 600 such “vessels” were created over the span of a single cycle. Numerous other smaller asteroids were converted into unguided missiles, whose mass proved so effective at defeating point defense and shield systems that they are still in use today. The Krillnean armada of 573 ships and 6-8 million souls was entirely obliterated. While not particularly agile or comfortable, the extremely basic nature of the human warships allowed them to survive attacks from the latest weapons systems, usually with little to no adverse effects. In fact, during the Battle of Sol, the total Terran losses were 237,000 personnel across 7 ships destroyed, and 13 damaged. The Battle of Sol set the stage for the fall of the Galactic Council. As the Terran Federation reestablished control of her colonies and continued the fight towards the Krillnean home worlds, they continued to refine, improve, and produce their new class of vessels. Long since superseded by newer classes of warship, the Nemesis class battleships are still the most decorated vessels in the history of the Terran Alliance. The Nemesis, first of her class, is still in use today and has the honor of being not only the ship which fired the first shot at the Battle of Sol, but also the vessel which destroyed the last enemy ship during the War of Unification between the Terran Federation and the Galactic Councils.	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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	“Examiner, have you reached any conclusions?” The holo-video lit up in the center of the laboratory. The face of Preator Endex filled the void in the center of the room. “Yes. Praetor. The specimen you provided was intact enough to draw a conclusion,” Examiner Zendex replied. “If I may ask, how was such a faultless specimen procured?” “By accident, Examiner.” Zendex could hear the embarrassment in the Preator’s voice. The Klee were notorious for their ability to plan. To have a complete human specimen simply fall into their possession as an act of luck was an insult to the Praetor’s ability to calculate probable outcomes. Still, it was likely that the additional information to be gleaned from studying a full anatomy could very well prove the turning of the war. “I see.” Zendex obfuscated his disapproval outwardly, while in actual fact he was enjoying the Praetor’s discomfort. No less than twelve successors to the current Praetor had all tried to turn the tide of the galactic conflict. Over fifty cycles, and none had succeeded. For all his braggadocio, Praetor Endex had proven equally incapable of mastering the necessary variables to overcome this foe. Not that it wasn’t a complex problem…. “Please, state your conclusion, then propose the underlying premises,” the Praetor encouraged. “Of course,” Zendex paused, wondering if the magnitude of his discoveries would be fully communicated, much less appreciated by the greater Klee protectorate. “The additional information gleaned from this specimen leads to the conclusion that this war will be over in less than two cycles.” The Praetor bared his mandibles in a sign of satisfaction. “Ah, we have it then. What is your margin of error?” The Examiner balked. To ask the question of an Examiner of such high esteem was almost an insult. “Within the ninety ninth percentile, Praetor.” “Then by all means, state your premises.” It was customary in Klee society to state the conclusion of an encounter first, then reveal the necessary background information informing the deduction. To save on the need for pointless interactions, a subordinate would typically accept the conclusions of an Elder. This was given to the Klee’s exceptional ability to calculate probabilities into several dimensions of thinking. To inquire into the basis for a deduction was to show interest, and thus respect, for the proponent of the conclusion. The Praetor was clearly showing great respect for the Examiner’s presentation. Such deference deserved a thorough exhibition. “I direct your attention to the specimen, Praetor.” The lifeless body of the pale human lay limply on the examining table, its various entrails and organs neatly stacked in a small row next to it. “As you can see from the scorian readout, the Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Muscular and Renal systems of these humans are typical of a class four evolutionary primateon species. Other than the digestive systems ability to vacate a surprising number of toxins, these systems are rather unremarkable...” The presentation continued, analyzing each biological strength and weakness in turn. The Praetor patiently listened. The Klee had conquered thousands of species in galactic combat. No race had been able to withstand their superior minds, being able to calculate and adapt to thousands of permutations and possible outcomes. And so it was supposed to be a simple conquest of this backward human world. Their superior numbers and technology obvious, the Klee had offered the humans a dignified surrender almost simultaneously with their invasion. The Klee war counsel had noted that the humans preferred to rely on diplomacy, which loosely translated basically meant mutual surrender, with neither side a victor. Words were a decent enough tool to fend off aggression in some cases. But without the might to back up those words … the Klee knew better. Despite its 1,000 years of peace with its neighbors, the Klee knew that no diplomacy would be enough to prevent Earth’s capture. At least, they thought they knew. Despite the analytical approach to the invasion, this unremarkable species had left cataclysmic destruction in its wake. Generally, an intergalactic war took one, maybe two cycles to conclude, especially when victory from one side or the other was all but assured. Once both sides concluded that victory was inevitable, a ceremonial surrender was typical. But the current conflict had lasted over fifty cycles, and the waste of resources had nearly drained the empire into insolvency. It wouldn’t be long until the outer systems calculated weakness… These humans did not conform to any known parameters. In most conflicts, multiple circumstances could be calculated, reevaluated, predicted. But not humans. In one iteration, humans would behave conservatively, almost to a fault. Giving ground even when obvious advantages could clearly be seized. In other encounters, they displayed a recklessness and ferocity known only among the unevolved. Fifty cycles later and they were just as impossible to predict as the day the Klee invaded Earth. The Earth invasion was a disaster by any tactical standard. It had been studied, reanalyzed, reinterpreted. But no solid conclusions could be reached. Upon landfall, the humans initially reacted as any other class four primateon. Family units hiding in fear. Communications disrupted. Military responses disorganized. And then, as if signaled by a Praetorean elite, something changed. The humans responded with the ferociousness and recklessness of an unevolved reptile or arachnid. Forces were marshaled imperfectly, but effectively. Counter offensives with no seeming probability of victory nevertheless succeeded. And once some Klee technology was in the hands of the enemy, the situation went all downsystem. Native humans with no military training whatsoever were taking up munitions and retaliating with no regard to their own existence. Elite human units advanced TOWARD certain death. By the time the provisional government envoy arrived to impose judicial order, the humans had routed all 36 expeditionary squads, including the capital ships. How in the nexus they even got up to the fleet centers remains a mystery, as human technology simply wasn’t advanced past placing geosynchronous communicators in their own orbit. To add insult, the humans used the captured fleet to commandeer the undefended bureaucratic envoy just after its arrival. And then? Then they repurposed the envoy to proclaim victory, making the Klee administrative apparatus assume the planet was in conquered status. It wasn’t until a whole cycle had passed until the Klee elite had noticed there wasn’t any tribute. But by then it was too late. The humans had adapted to the technology quickly. Not just to seize and use it, but also perverting Klee technology to suit their own destructive ends. From there, forty-nine cycles of interstellar destruction and chaos across entire systems. Unlike other space-faring species, the humans seem to have no respect for cosmic order. It is as if they must repurpose the universe itself to match their fleeting lifespan. They damage anything in their path to achieve even minor victories. Anger toward a conqueror was to be expected. But the patterns appeared to demonstrate a malice toward the Klee that could not have been predicted from an evolved species. Using space folding technology, they used a Klee warp engine to fold out the orbit of a key military installation, shifting it into the path of a black hole, and damaging the habitability of three separate colonies. They strapped fusion reactors onto refueling pylons and sent them back into the prime nexus, haphazardly destroying or crippling thirteen production outposts. In one engagement, a system neighboring a production facility with no military value was completely destroyed, a seemingly pointless act. But worst of all, in every encounter their soldiers and pilots show no regard whatsoever for their own personal safety, at times letting loose fission and fusion weapons of their own design, which spread fallout throughout half the Klee protectorate. It has made the end of the conflict nearly impossible to manage.	When the human race first entered our star systems, we thought they were laughable. They came to “explore” and “settle”, but they appeared very poorly equipped and naïve to be doing such things. Of course, they were not the first race we’ve seen with colonizing of any sort on the mind; our people have dabbled with that ourselves, at least when necessary to get resources to persist. At first we played their game. Showed them some territories they could stay in, gave them some pointers, and then promptly tried to ignore them. However, they were unsatisfied. They wanted to continue growing and expanding. Predictably enough, of course. When they threw their little fit, we threatened them with our superior weapons and technology, and they calmed down… or rather, changed their tune. They had no intention to FIGHT for any land, but they were more than willing to BARTER for it somehow. It would go on like this, the humans growing, us socializing and trying not to satisfy their little diplomatic egoes too much, making as many compromises as we could. But enough was never enough for them. Never for too long. However, for us, enough was indeed enough. We put our foot down when they got too needy, and told them to either leave completely or die. Their response… …was to devastate us all. Using strange molecular bonding units, they took their lesser ships and weapons and smashed them together into much stronger units, an unforeseen tactic. They did this with individuals too, making on-land planetary warfare even harder on us. We had to retreat, and they took everything. They went on like this, from system to system. Even with everything our societies could throw at them, even when they were outnumbered and outpowered, their tactics and techniques and that blasted unification technology decimated everything in their path. All seemed lost for our way of life… except for one thing that we had that they did not: Through tachyon engines, one could move faster than light. What had not been explored yet by any of us had been the next step of that: travel through time. Yes, with what resources we had left, us survivors formed a war party with one goal: go to the past and crush those humans before they have the chance to do any of this. Punish those heartless, egotistical monsters for what they did to us. Preemptively take back everything they would steal. We have talked enough with them to know about their ways, their history. We know of a planet called Earth where they originated. We know exactly where and when in history to show up. This is a one way trip. We are willing to take it. The human race won’t know what hit them.
[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	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."
[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.	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."
[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've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	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."
[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	Senator Pysto of Ravlotl moved through the cramped, iron and wooden interior of his home. His new home, at least. What remained of his species existed underground, though the senator chose to remain above ground in an armored bunker. It was not unlike the pillboxes of old earth, but with smaller, round passages made of cylindrical tubular metal. The interior was paneled with wood to simulate a home, but the lack of windows and light killed the illusion. Additionally the senator was tall for a member of his species, and the bunkers were cramped at the best of times. At least he did not have to share these cramped quarters. He was alone. Alone.. He stepped over piles of papers and empty cans. There was no way to step outside to remove refuse without his heat signature attracting an orbital lance. At least he had time to finish his history. The history of the war. The end of his people. The Ravlotl were a race not dissimilar from felines, with wide, golden eyes and sharp tufts around the chin and cheeks. Laid out in a humanoid style, the senator's old auburn fur was stricken gray with stress. His back had developed an unnatural hump. He went to the composing room, a place stacked with holo slivers and classical reed papers, with a single round window staring out at the sulfurous yellow sky of his home. He pressed a button on the desk and a holographic display appeared before him, mirroring his face. A red light blinked in the corner. "... Where was I.. They have had orbital supremacy for six months now. Our star fleet and ground forces are obliterated. We are at their mercy but we have not yet received terms. I learned this morning through entangled comms that the Ulvitih home world is gone. They destroyed it utterly with their atomics. The sheer amount of resources they burned for no other reason to see the world uninhabitable is beyond logic. No one in the Consensus would believe it if it had not happened. I have also learned that I am the only remaining member of the Ravlotl government." He paused to withdraw a piece of cloth and bring it to his mouth, coughing sputum from his aged and sick lungs into it. "My previous tapes recorded the events of the war, but not the reason. All the species of the Consensus have been focused on the events, because to us, reason is still our god. Even the foolish Ulvitih had reasons for what they did. Ignorant as they were. I include in this holo slice a report from a colleague of mine, Ras Atha, a correspondant on the Earth homeworld. She sent this, shortly before being imprisoned on crimes against the Earth state. I doubt we will see one another again, either because the humans have killed one of us, or both, or the Elder takes this body from me and returns my spirit to the loam. ..I reminisce. Ras Atha's report eludicated something none of us understood about the Earth race. The species is entirely mad. Every member of the Consensus has one thing in common - a deeply held respect for the process of Reason. It is understood that no species could pass through industrialization or weather the dangers of interstellar flight without Reason. Much less, discover these arts in the first place. As such, terms are always agreed upon when joining the Consensus. War is an expected outcome, but we did not grasp what war meant to Earth when it began. Why would we be concerned, after all? One planet in a hundred thousand is taken, changes hands. Some go to prisons, others are slain. In the galactic scheme, it means nothing. A dozen lives on a far flung world. Planetary resources that could only be used on the frontier. You would have to care about that frontier to care about those resources. We know that we will war at times. Worlds will be traded diplomatically or militarily. Our home worlds remain safe. No one bothered to explain this reality to the Earth, much less investigate how their society functions. The species is schizophrenic. It exists in a delicate balance between two extremes, one ruled by god Reason and the other by the ignorant, savage impulses of their pack dwelling ancestors. Ras Atha discovered their society swings from one polar opposite to the other - A period of Reason that creates rapid technological development, and a period of Ignorance that stagnates this process. At times there appears to be a balance between the forces, but it is an illusion. The pendulum always swings. We met the humans in such a period of Reason. Being right in the middle of the neutral zone, they had a reletively short distance to travel to the Consensus senate. Their peaceful approach left us fooled, and we admitted them rapidly. We shared technology with them, and.. We all know how rapidly they colonized space. Then the Ulvitih attacked their colony on S-163. They came to us and pleaded for justice, for intervention. We did not understand. S-163 had no value to anyone. Yes, ten thousand souls were lost, but they chose to continue fighting. Of course they were slain. That is War. But they kept on with Justice. We did not understand when they said Revenge. It is a word we stopped using when we gained enough age to Reason. By slaughtering their colonists the Ulvitih triggered the pendulum, and the savagery came forth. This is what you must understand! Their ancient, pack dynamic came back. They became insular. Violent. Even those among them that clung to Reason were forced to submit themselves to the ancient instincts or be expelled from the pack. They operated on a type of logic wherein everything not in their pack was a potential threat to be utterly slain. No slaves, no trading of worlds, only death. In their history they did this even to themselves, inventing arbitrary standards for pack inclusion or summary execution. See included file on concept Fascism. The Ulvitih were not prepared for their concept of total war. The humans attacked and were repelled. Yet they did not understand that Ulvitih would not destroy their Home world. They did not trust. Perhaps they enjoyed killing all along. This is why they would not withdraw! They attacked again, and soon found some flaw in the Ulvitih. They began to win. Worlds fell, and the Ulvitih sent questioning treaties to the Earth. They received only ridiculous demands they called a "Peace Treaty." In their history these were required to end hostilities - Because otherwise hostilities would not end before all humans had extinguished all other humans. Ulvitih did not understand. Ulvitih thought they would stop on their own. Ulvitih thought the death of a dozen worlds for the measly ten thousand they had slain was a curiosity. I imagine they enjoyed killing the way humans did, but they did not understand total war. The humans would not stop until every Ulvitih was dead, because they would never feel safe again until they had done so. Reason was gone. When the Ulvitih home world cracked under the weight of their atomic weapons, the Consensus froze. We had never dared to imagine one species driving another to extinction. The Ravlotl intervention was not intended to extinct the humans, merely slay the ones that were attempting to slay the remaining Ulvitih. We wanted to save a species. But the Earth did not see it this way. To them, now it was all of us. Every Consensus species was a different pack. They would not be safe until we were dead, as well." The Senator stopped. The bones in his neck cracked as he looked out the window. There was a glow behind the yellow clouds. It moved. It was not the sun. "I do not know if any of the Consensus species will find this message, or if it will be eliminated when the Earth decides to break our world. I will entangle it, but who will find the signal buoy I cannot know. Listen well - The Earth has lost it's connection to god Reason. It is possible to slay them, perhaps, violate our oldest beliefs. It may be necessary. Before it comes to that, be warned. Do not underestimate them. In this state they are dark reflections of themselves. I pray one of the Consensus can reach them, lead them back to Reason. I pray it fervently. If it is not possible, I beg of you - Avoid them, and if you cannot, extinct them. You must defend yoursel-" A rumbling in the distance met his old ears. His eyes rolled up mid sentence to see the shock wave rolling over the old capital, already bombed into a display more like jagged teeth than the metropolis that once was. The shock wave engulfed it instantly. The Senator's eyes dilated from the bright light, and his black lips turned to a frown before his eyes went blind. The wave rolled over his shelter, turning everything from golden to bright white light.
[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.	Senator Pysto of Ravlotl moved through the cramped, iron and wooden interior of his home. His new home, at least. What remained of his species existed underground, though the senator chose to remain above ground in an armored bunker. It was not unlike the pillboxes of old earth, but with smaller, round passages made of cylindrical tubular metal. The interior was paneled with wood to simulate a home, but the lack of windows and light killed the illusion. Additionally the senator was tall for a member of his species, and the bunkers were cramped at the best of times. At least he did not have to share these cramped quarters. He was alone. Alone.. He stepped over piles of papers and empty cans. There was no way to step outside to remove refuse without his heat signature attracting an orbital lance. At least he had time to finish his history. The history of the war. The end of his people. The Ravlotl were a race not dissimilar from felines, with wide, golden eyes and sharp tufts around the chin and cheeks. Laid out in a humanoid style, the senator's old auburn fur was stricken gray with stress. His back had developed an unnatural hump. He went to the composing room, a place stacked with holo slivers and classical reed papers, with a single round window staring out at the sulfurous yellow sky of his home. He pressed a button on the desk and a holographic display appeared before him, mirroring his face. A red light blinked in the corner. "... Where was I.. They have had orbital supremacy for six months now. Our star fleet and ground forces are obliterated. We are at their mercy but we have not yet received terms. I learned this morning through entangled comms that the Ulvitih home world is gone. They destroyed it utterly with their atomics. The sheer amount of resources they burned for no other reason to see the world uninhabitable is beyond logic. No one in the Consensus would believe it if it had not happened. I have also learned that I am the only remaining member of the Ravlotl government." He paused to withdraw a piece of cloth and bring it to his mouth, coughing sputum from his aged and sick lungs into it. "My previous tapes recorded the events of the war, but not the reason. All the species of the Consensus have been focused on the events, because to us, reason is still our god. Even the foolish Ulvitih had reasons for what they did. Ignorant as they were. I include in this holo slice a report from a colleague of mine, Ras Atha, a correspondant on the Earth homeworld. She sent this, shortly before being imprisoned on crimes against the Earth state. I doubt we will see one another again, either because the humans have killed one of us, or both, or the Elder takes this body from me and returns my spirit to the loam. ..I reminisce. Ras Atha's report eludicated something none of us understood about the Earth race. The species is entirely mad. Every member of the Consensus has one thing in common - a deeply held respect for the process of Reason. It is understood that no species could pass through industrialization or weather the dangers of interstellar flight without Reason. Much less, discover these arts in the first place. As such, terms are always agreed upon when joining the Consensus. War is an expected outcome, but we did not grasp what war meant to Earth when it began. Why would we be concerned, after all? One planet in a hundred thousand is taken, changes hands. Some go to prisons, others are slain. In the galactic scheme, it means nothing. A dozen lives on a far flung world. Planetary resources that could only be used on the frontier. You would have to care about that frontier to care about those resources. We know that we will war at times. Worlds will be traded diplomatically or militarily. Our home worlds remain safe. No one bothered to explain this reality to the Earth, much less investigate how their society functions. The species is schizophrenic. It exists in a delicate balance between two extremes, one ruled by god Reason and the other by the ignorant, savage impulses of their pack dwelling ancestors. Ras Atha discovered their society swings from one polar opposite to the other - A period of Reason that creates rapid technological development, and a period of Ignorance that stagnates this process. At times there appears to be a balance between the forces, but it is an illusion. The pendulum always swings. We met the humans in such a period of Reason. Being right in the middle of the neutral zone, they had a reletively short distance to travel to the Consensus senate. Their peaceful approach left us fooled, and we admitted them rapidly. We shared technology with them, and.. We all know how rapidly they colonized space. Then the Ulvitih attacked their colony on S-163. They came to us and pleaded for justice, for intervention. We did not understand. S-163 had no value to anyone. Yes, ten thousand souls were lost, but they chose to continue fighting. Of course they were slain. That is War. But they kept on with Justice. We did not understand when they said Revenge. It is a word we stopped using when we gained enough age to Reason. By slaughtering their colonists the Ulvitih triggered the pendulum, and the savagery came forth. This is what you must understand! Their ancient, pack dynamic came back. They became insular. Violent. Even those among them that clung to Reason were forced to submit themselves to the ancient instincts or be expelled from the pack. They operated on a type of logic wherein everything not in their pack was a potential threat to be utterly slain. No slaves, no trading of worlds, only death. In their history they did this even to themselves, inventing arbitrary standards for pack inclusion or summary execution. See included file on concept Fascism. The Ulvitih were not prepared for their concept of total war. The humans attacked and were repelled. Yet they did not understand that Ulvitih would not destroy their Home world. They did not trust. Perhaps they enjoyed killing all along. This is why they would not withdraw! They attacked again, and soon found some flaw in the Ulvitih. They began to win. Worlds fell, and the Ulvitih sent questioning treaties to the Earth. They received only ridiculous demands they called a "Peace Treaty." In their history these were required to end hostilities - Because otherwise hostilities would not end before all humans had extinguished all other humans. Ulvitih did not understand. Ulvitih thought they would stop on their own. Ulvitih thought the death of a dozen worlds for the measly ten thousand they had slain was a curiosity. I imagine they enjoyed killing the way humans did, but they did not understand total war. The humans would not stop until every Ulvitih was dead, because they would never feel safe again until they had done so. Reason was gone. When the Ulvitih home world cracked under the weight of their atomic weapons, the Consensus froze. We had never dared to imagine one species driving another to extinction. The Ravlotl intervention was not intended to extinct the humans, merely slay the ones that were attempting to slay the remaining Ulvitih. We wanted to save a species. But the Earth did not see it this way. To them, now it was all of us. Every Consensus species was a different pack. They would not be safe until we were dead, as well." The Senator stopped. The bones in his neck cracked as he looked out the window. There was a glow behind the yellow clouds. It moved. It was not the sun. "I do not know if any of the Consensus species will find this message, or if it will be eliminated when the Earth decides to break our world. I will entangle it, but who will find the signal buoy I cannot know. Listen well - The Earth has lost it's connection to god Reason. It is possible to slay them, perhaps, violate our oldest beliefs. It may be necessary. Before it comes to that, be warned. Do not underestimate them. In this state they are dark reflections of themselves. I pray one of the Consensus can reach them, lead them back to Reason. I pray it fervently. If it is not possible, I beg of you - Avoid them, and if you cannot, extinct them. You must defend yoursel-" A rumbling in the distance met his old ears. His eyes rolled up mid sentence to see the shock wave rolling over the old capital, already bombed into a display more like jagged teeth than the metropolis that once was. The shock wave engulfed it instantly. The Senator's eyes dilated from the bright light, and his black lips turned to a frown before his eyes went blind. The wave rolled over his shelter, turning everything from golden to bright white light.
[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've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	Senator Pysto of Ravlotl moved through the cramped, iron and wooden interior of his home. His new home, at least. What remained of his species existed underground, though the senator chose to remain above ground in an armored bunker. It was not unlike the pillboxes of old earth, but with smaller, round passages made of cylindrical tubular metal. The interior was paneled with wood to simulate a home, but the lack of windows and light killed the illusion. Additionally the senator was tall for a member of his species, and the bunkers were cramped at the best of times. At least he did not have to share these cramped quarters. He was alone. Alone.. He stepped over piles of papers and empty cans. There was no way to step outside to remove refuse without his heat signature attracting an orbital lance. At least he had time to finish his history. The history of the war. The end of his people. The Ravlotl were a race not dissimilar from felines, with wide, golden eyes and sharp tufts around the chin and cheeks. Laid out in a humanoid style, the senator's old auburn fur was stricken gray with stress. His back had developed an unnatural hump. He went to the composing room, a place stacked with holo slivers and classical reed papers, with a single round window staring out at the sulfurous yellow sky of his home. He pressed a button on the desk and a holographic display appeared before him, mirroring his face. A red light blinked in the corner. "... Where was I.. They have had orbital supremacy for six months now. Our star fleet and ground forces are obliterated. We are at their mercy but we have not yet received terms. I learned this morning through entangled comms that the Ulvitih home world is gone. They destroyed it utterly with their atomics. The sheer amount of resources they burned for no other reason to see the world uninhabitable is beyond logic. No one in the Consensus would believe it if it had not happened. I have also learned that I am the only remaining member of the Ravlotl government." He paused to withdraw a piece of cloth and bring it to his mouth, coughing sputum from his aged and sick lungs into it. "My previous tapes recorded the events of the war, but not the reason. All the species of the Consensus have been focused on the events, because to us, reason is still our god. Even the foolish Ulvitih had reasons for what they did. Ignorant as they were. I include in this holo slice a report from a colleague of mine, Ras Atha, a correspondant on the Earth homeworld. She sent this, shortly before being imprisoned on crimes against the Earth state. I doubt we will see one another again, either because the humans have killed one of us, or both, or the Elder takes this body from me and returns my spirit to the loam. ..I reminisce. Ras Atha's report eludicated something none of us understood about the Earth race. The species is entirely mad. Every member of the Consensus has one thing in common - a deeply held respect for the process of Reason. It is understood that no species could pass through industrialization or weather the dangers of interstellar flight without Reason. Much less, discover these arts in the first place. As such, terms are always agreed upon when joining the Consensus. War is an expected outcome, but we did not grasp what war meant to Earth when it began. Why would we be concerned, after all? One planet in a hundred thousand is taken, changes hands. Some go to prisons, others are slain. In the galactic scheme, it means nothing. A dozen lives on a far flung world. Planetary resources that could only be used on the frontier. You would have to care about that frontier to care about those resources. We know that we will war at times. Worlds will be traded diplomatically or militarily. Our home worlds remain safe. No one bothered to explain this reality to the Earth, much less investigate how their society functions. The species is schizophrenic. It exists in a delicate balance between two extremes, one ruled by god Reason and the other by the ignorant, savage impulses of their pack dwelling ancestors. Ras Atha discovered their society swings from one polar opposite to the other - A period of Reason that creates rapid technological development, and a period of Ignorance that stagnates this process. At times there appears to be a balance between the forces, but it is an illusion. The pendulum always swings. We met the humans in such a period of Reason. Being right in the middle of the neutral zone, they had a reletively short distance to travel to the Consensus senate. Their peaceful approach left us fooled, and we admitted them rapidly. We shared technology with them, and.. We all know how rapidly they colonized space. Then the Ulvitih attacked their colony on S-163. They came to us and pleaded for justice, for intervention. We did not understand. S-163 had no value to anyone. Yes, ten thousand souls were lost, but they chose to continue fighting. Of course they were slain. That is War. But they kept on with Justice. We did not understand when they said Revenge. It is a word we stopped using when we gained enough age to Reason. By slaughtering their colonists the Ulvitih triggered the pendulum, and the savagery came forth. This is what you must understand! Their ancient, pack dynamic came back. They became insular. Violent. Even those among them that clung to Reason were forced to submit themselves to the ancient instincts or be expelled from the pack. They operated on a type of logic wherein everything not in their pack was a potential threat to be utterly slain. No slaves, no trading of worlds, only death. In their history they did this even to themselves, inventing arbitrary standards for pack inclusion or summary execution. See included file on concept Fascism. The Ulvitih were not prepared for their concept of total war. The humans attacked and were repelled. Yet they did not understand that Ulvitih would not destroy their Home world. They did not trust. Perhaps they enjoyed killing all along. This is why they would not withdraw! They attacked again, and soon found some flaw in the Ulvitih. They began to win. Worlds fell, and the Ulvitih sent questioning treaties to the Earth. They received only ridiculous demands they called a "Peace Treaty." In their history these were required to end hostilities - Because otherwise hostilities would not end before all humans had extinguished all other humans. Ulvitih did not understand. Ulvitih thought they would stop on their own. Ulvitih thought the death of a dozen worlds for the measly ten thousand they had slain was a curiosity. I imagine they enjoyed killing the way humans did, but they did not understand total war. The humans would not stop until every Ulvitih was dead, because they would never feel safe again until they had done so. Reason was gone. When the Ulvitih home world cracked under the weight of their atomic weapons, the Consensus froze. We had never dared to imagine one species driving another to extinction. The Ravlotl intervention was not intended to extinct the humans, merely slay the ones that were attempting to slay the remaining Ulvitih. We wanted to save a species. But the Earth did not see it this way. To them, now it was all of us. Every Consensus species was a different pack. They would not be safe until we were dead, as well." The Senator stopped. The bones in his neck cracked as he looked out the window. There was a glow behind the yellow clouds. It moved. It was not the sun. "I do not know if any of the Consensus species will find this message, or if it will be eliminated when the Earth decides to break our world. I will entangle it, but who will find the signal buoy I cannot know. Listen well - The Earth has lost it's connection to god Reason. It is possible to slay them, perhaps, violate our oldest beliefs. It may be necessary. Before it comes to that, be warned. Do not underestimate them. In this state they are dark reflections of themselves. I pray one of the Consensus can reach them, lead them back to Reason. I pray it fervently. If it is not possible, I beg of you - Avoid them, and if you cannot, extinct them. You must defend yoursel-" A rumbling in the distance met his old ears. His eyes rolled up mid sentence to see the shock wave rolling over the old capital, already bombed into a display more like jagged teeth than the metropolis that once was. The shock wave engulfed it instantly. The Senator's eyes dilated from the bright light, and his black lips turned to a frown before his eyes went blind. The wave rolled over his shelter, turning everything from golden to bright white light.
[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.	<<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
[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've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	<<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
[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've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	[[Translated excerpt of "The Fall of the Ky'hree," a simian warrior race which once ruled an empire spanning twelve systems. Students are expected to write an essay detailing the tactical mistakes the Ky'hree empire made in the historic assault on the human homeworld of Earth, which sparked the warm-blooded war and subsequent near extinction of the Ky'hree at the hands of the human race. Some terms may no longer exist in current universal common. These terms will be given an appropriate substitute.]] We were woefully unprepared. Our first strike was on the <mid-western> continent. A surprise attack, which we had hoped would gain us a foothold, was made on what all our intelligence had revealed to be their most financially stable quadrant of the planet. We believed that crushing them here would destabilize their global economy and destroy the morale of the humans. Easily, we destroyed them, in our first of a series of battles that were meant to span the globe. The continent fell quickly. "Europe," the humans called it. It was lush, temperate, and the people soft. How the troops laughed at how easy this planet would be to take. This was the last time I saw many of them, and the few I saw again have yet to express what could be considered <joy> since that day. We set up a base zero and began the second stage of our plan to take this world for our own. We sent troops to the <south>, with instructions to take everything and use what we could. Our home was far away, and it would be several months before the <technical crews> finished punching the wormhole to connect the <supply train>. Before long, our <southern forces> were reporting mass casualties from what I can only describe as the planet itself siding with its denizens. Incredulous, I read through the mountains of casualty reports. Many reports spoke of humans in mountains, in caves, in watercraft, firing automatic weapons into the troops. Those who were not killed in these ambushes were taken by wildlife or disease. How humans live with these creatures, I will never understand. Within weeks, we had lost contact with the forces we sent down <south>. The few returnees spoke in fevered tongues, of large creatures with larger teeth which could bite clear through a carapace and snap an anodized exoskeleton with ease, and of clouds of parasites which would bite and sting and leave victims dying of plague. We looked for another foothold, and marched <east>, into the <northern> section of the <eastern continent>. This time, we were wiser, and prepared for the vicious beasts that surely awaited us. We interrogated the human prisoners. Most <laughed>, but one told us of a human <warlord>, who once led his men in a great march to take the very same land. He <stared> into my <eyes> and ended his story with, "be like Napoleon. I want to see it." I should have taken that for the warning it was. Nothing could have prepared my soldiers for what I sent them into. The bitter cold was as unceasing as the attempts by the humans to destroy the very land under our forces' feet. The troops fought for every <centimeter> forward, as their protective barrier covering was pushed to the limit by the barrage of explosives that never truly seemed to stop. Eventually, as the barrier began to fade, the troops began to retreat, but it was too late for many. The frigid temperatures overpowered the <thermal regulators> in the <habitats> of my troops. Many of them froze to death before they could make it back to Europe. We were forced to abandon much of our equipment, the first in a series of events that would enable the human forces to equip themselves and follow us back to our empire. With two failures, I decided to send a second assault vessel to the <western> quadrant of the world. This would turn out to be the greatest tactical mistake I could have made. The moment the assault craft broke the <stratosphere>, it was met with a nuclear armament. I was forced to watch as my men fired out of their escape pods and were scattered among the <northern> two <continents>. Explosions mirrored the sudden silencing of the emergency signals the pods sent to the command craft as they were summarily destroyed before they made landfall. I had one final plan; I would send the last of my forces to the large <southeastern> island. Orbital scans revealed this place was much more arid than other environments on the planet, but I believed that a pincer movement from "Europe" would allow me to take the large population of the central landmass as a slave force to conquer the rest of the <continent>. My troops didn't stand a chance. The reports of my soldiers were that of disappearances. There would be howling in the <night>, screams, and men would be gone. Still others reported large insects that would kill a soldier with a single bite, or bipedal creatures with large tails. I commanded a retreat, but the humans had already snuck in and stolen the landing craft. I was forced to retreat as the human forces followed a return protocol the assault ships had to my command ship. I should have stayed and died with my men. I should not have given the humans a clue to the location of our empire. I write this as a warning to my superiors and to any who may read this in the future. The humans are not weak. They are dormant. They are settled. And if you engage them, do not expect mercy.
[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	Everyone always assumed that the alien invasion would be violent. After our satellites had discovered spacecraft that we couldn't track to any nation's space program, my father began stockpiling weapons. Okay, he had been doing that already, but he began to stockpile harder. At least, that was until the spacecraft made landing and their diplomats reached Africa, and instead of killing en masse, they simply began constricting homes. No one, really saw an issue, they had come in peace. Of course they saw resistance from local governments, but the United Nations did not have the strength to to back up the Ivory Coast in their war with the Bulmerians, and NATO was a shell of it's former self after America began cutting back it's contributions. Eventually after a while the UN adopted a resolution of peace with the Bulmerians after our diplomats figured out their language. Earthly Bulmeria was given a seat in the UN and began expanding its influence over world politics as they began trading with humans. That was over twenty years ago, and now their communications from their home planet had given the order to expand. Humanity had not fought any major wars in over 50 years, and the aliens mistook that for weakness. In a way we were weak, as our divided nations sought to appease them, with most of the world being tributaries. However, in rural Appalachia we could not stand the US government, and I'll be good god damned if I was gonna pay income taxes to some two bit blue skinned jackass king a hundred light years away. The first revolt happened in Ireland. After unification, they were already wary of all empires, so when the Dáil decided to appease them, Dublin erupted into riots, murdered almost all of parliament, and installed a new one, who refused to pay tribute. The Bulmerians invaded, but they had expected conventional warfare with NATO or a similar power. Instead, they found their aircraft, spacecraft and even landcraft being sabotaged. Evidently Bulmerians we're unable to distinguish human powers, and had no respect for nationhood. So when they began punishing other nations who were happy to pay tribute for the bombing of their embassy in Britain, the whole world rose up in revolt. And so I sat in my living room, watching an old movie called "Braveheart" and working on an IED. After my brigade captured a series of pulse grenades from the local Bulmerian military base, I had set upon reverse engineering them, and was ready to try an upscaled version of it. "And there, you ready to try it?" I asked to my friend and comrade Patrick. "Fuck no," he said "but there's a caravan coming through today, so we can try it then." We had set up an ambush. I had inherited a 2025 Toyota Hilux from my granddad and had mounted a rebuilt M2 Browning to the back. It wasn't the latest and greatest, but it still worked, even after over a hundred years of service. We had parked it in the bushes, away from immediate líne of sight. Once I heard the sonic boom of the pulse mine i knew it was time, and I gripped the ma deuce as Patrick screamed past the caravan. I rained down bullets onto the vehicles, screaming like a berserker. The caravan had grinded to a halt, and the Bulmerian soldiers leapt from their vehicles trying to fire upon us but we were long gone. We heard sounds of continued gunfire as our comrades tagged in, raining down with a DShK and tossing in Molotov cocktails for good measure. That was simply one ambush in the long guerilla war for the Appalachians, and that was only one front I'm our global struggle against Bulmeria. They still hold most of Africa, but they failed to realize one thing: humans really don't like bullies.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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	Humans are the most dangerous when they know they have nothing to loose. When they know they can't win, they'll devout everything they have to make sure that you don't win either. They prefer mutually assured destruction before surrender. By a wide margin. Never put a human in a corner. All those tidbits of media that escape their bubble before they did showed mostly weak, groveling people, begging for mercy when put against a superior force. That only applied when they where dealing with their own kind. To anyone else, they're basically rabid beasts. Only engage a group of humans when you are absolutely sure you can eradicate them all in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it's a lose/lose scenario. I've learned this the hard way, and it's by the skin off my teeth that I live to tell about it...	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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 red light was blinking, indicating the failure of the shields, but the commander Ze’hyl could not be bothered. He was franticly looking through the data as the predictions of AI clearly did not match the reality, not anymore... It was his failure! He recommended the invasion of the Sol system. The home star of those gutless humans. \- How did it come to this?.. Decades of planning and analysis. These humans who would rather take the short end of a stick than show some spine. These… mammals who only know of negotiations, diplomacy, and compromise. Not a single interstellar conflict yet alone war since they joined the League. How are they doing this? It all went so well until we reached that small blue rock… The angry ichodrian drifted in thought as he was gazing upon the holographic display depicting the Sol system. \- Commendable effort for a race of a peace loving peons, it brought them some time but what of it or so I thought… Where all those ships, where all those troops came from? It cannot be technology, why would you lose so many positions if you had the means to defend them in the first place… Once again, he opened the human response to the declaration of war. The words sounded different from what he heard the first time. \- We hoped we could keep these doors closed forever. But now God help us all. As his mind was running through various scenarios, his eyes picked up on a small cloud of debris orbiting the sun in between the human home world and Venus. A strange thought formed in his head. \- What if, what if that cloud used to be a planet?... He updated the conditions for the AI and was met with despair. The predictions finally made sense and all it took was to name the cloud in between Venus and Mars a planet…	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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	"Emperor, High Chancellor of Earth on Luma link to you", an advisor notified Emperor Gaumph. "Link up." The emperor replied. Holo visage of an elderly human sitting behind a desk materialized in the middle of the throne room. "I presume this is about your mutual defense treaty with Lakilla?" The emperor asked the apparition. "Yes. You shall withdraw all your forces immediately, or there will be dire consequences." The emperor laughed. "Two puny defenseless races without so much as an army in a mutual defense treaty. What a joke. What are you going to do? Establish embargo on Coca-Cola? It's a popular drink among our people but our supplies will last until Earth is conquered and we'll have it without tariffs." "We will destroy your cities, stations, colonies and capital ships one by one, until you surrender or until your successor surrenders." "You and what army?" "I think you're not treating our threat seriously, so let me demonstrate our capacity." High Counsellor tapped something on the desk in front of him. Surely a map in holo; you can't visualize a holo in another holo so it wasn't visible. One of advisors sprung to alert. "Emperor, I just got a report, Acordia just exploded." "The capital ship?! How?! Raise shields on all ships and planets now!" "The signature is antimatter, about a kilogram worth of antimatter annihilated, the ship was literally wiped out!" "Ah, so a hyperspace torpedo. They caught us unaware, but now with shields up they can fire away. Every object of importance is protected." Chancellor tapped some other spot. Another advisor jumped up. "Emperor, the army colony of Maruja is gone!" "Did they fail to raise the shield?" "No, Emperor! The shield is still up, and filled with inferno left after an anti-matter explosion!" "Attack! Send the armada to Earth! Destroy them before they destroy more of our resources!" The chancellor shook his head. "I was afraid it would come to this. Let us hope your second-in-command is more reasonable." He tapped a spot on his desk. A Coca-Cola dispenser machine in the lobby of the Imperial Palace made a quiet ding. Then the palace and the emperor ceased to exist in an antimatter explosion.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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	"Well, we knew the humans had a military. They had to, you see. The worlds they were colonizing were dangerous, lots of life forms that want nothing but to kill..." the old soldier trailed off, lost in his memories. "I understand sir, but..." I didn't want to be rude. Battle Commander Gorvg was a hero to the Pteron people, and one of the last to ever face a human in battle. So he was the perfect subject for my research. "Can we talk about what led to the war?" "I'm getting there, lots of background to cover. So anyway, they had a military, but they'd never used it. They were great talkers, could talk all 12 ears off a Nfalu! And so privately, a lot of species wanted to test the mettle of humanity. Had to find out if they could really make it in the universe." I glanced at the recorder. 2.5 hours already, and we hadn't even gotten to the fighting yet. "And then the Xaaluu decided they'd be the first." I laughed. "I'm sorry sir, the Xaaluu weren't around 2000 years ago. They died well before humans were discovered." Battle Commander Gorvg glared at me, his one good eye cold as ice. "You so readily believe your history books. The Xaaluu sent a Capital Battle Group to attack a new colony. 5 Capital ships, humans called them "Battleships", stupid name, all ships are battle ships. 10 Intermediate ships, and 20 Support ships per group." "Sir," I interjected. "Do you know what the humans called the other ships? Just for the record." "Cruisers and Destroyers, respectively. Good question, young one." He leaned back in his seat before continuing. "The colony had 2 'Heavy Frigates' for defense and carrying troops. Completely outclassed by the Xaaluu laser weaponry." "I can't imagine the fight lasted long, Sir." "No... it didn't. What no one realized was that the humans still fired metallic projectiles and had perfected energy shielding. And they had lots of guns on those ships. Those two ships put out more firepower in 5 minutes than the entire Xaaluu Battle Group could put out in a week." My notebook hit the floor. "We saw the scans. It took 5 minutes for those ships to kill a Capital Battle Group. And the humans didn't stop there. They sent their fleets, yes! Multiple fleets! Into Xaaluu space. We had never seen such destruction, such death." Gorvg's eye had glazed over, he wasn't in the room with me anymore; he was back there, 2000 years ago. "That's when the Pteron's joined the fight. And they hit us harder than we'd ever been hit before. Worlds burned, every ship they saw utterly destroyed. We surrendered in weeks. But the Xaaluu fought on, and humanity was only too happy to extinguish their civilization." Gorvg sighed before continuing, "and then, when they had won, they returned. With ships and doctors and aid and food... to help us rebuild our worlds. The rest of the Galactic Council decided to hide this history from everyone. No one could know that we lived next to monsters. The most destructive, compassionate monsters we'd ever seen. It's a Capital offense, talking about this history, you know." For a 3000 year old veteran, Battle Commander Gorvg's reflexes hadn't slowed at all. Before I had even processed his last sentence, he had drawn and primed two Atomizer pistols. "But I think it's time to remember, young human." He motioned to the closet door, and I noticed footsteps approaching. "There's a trapdoor in there, take the ladder down. You'll find everything you need. Holodisks, holodrives, all the evidence of that old war. Hurry now, I'll hold them long enough for you to get away." The footsteps were closer now. I could hear the voices of the warriors, angry. They wanted blood. I rushed to the trapdoor, threw it open, and started down the ladder. Just before I closed the hatch, I took one last look at the hero. Battle Commander Gorvg of the Pteron people. He was smiling.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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 thought that we knew what we were doing. They had barely made it to their own moon before we had arrived and we had an armada. The had nuclear weapons and we laughed as we ate their bombs, inhaling the radiation like they did with helium. When we arrived they had greeted us like gods, crowds of worshipers and cameras. They had their army ready but they certainly didn’t look special. We had laser guns that could leave nothing but red and green bones behind, they still used gunpowder. So we shot a birdie that apparently had ment peace, a laughable concept, and slaughtered the gathering. And even after that they had tried to negotiate peace! To give credit where it’s due, it was impressive to see them build a translator for our language that has so many subtleties in both pitch and tone. But still it was amusing to destroy their monuments and to see them flee as we had our way with their world. We didn’t realize however, the power of voice. Humans are capable of reaching pitches so high that they can shatter glass and even the resonant frequency of our brains. When this was discovered we swiftly found ourselves on the back foot. No Martian left on that rock was given quarter and even now they reverse engineer our ships and hunt us down. All the while they play that hunting song known as yodeling. I hear them now faintly through the door, the music would be beautiful if I didn’t feel my brain ripple even from here. So I leave this in memory of my species, should the humans see this know I hate you and that we should have blown up your planet when we had the chance. Should others see this I leave you some parting words: ACK ACKACK ACk ACK ACK!!!	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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 have no claimed that we were peaceful." Tobias said, a firm hand grasping the flag of the final human lands, the other curling tight around the hilt of his gun. It had been a long battle. A fight that took the lives of many brothers, fathers, and uncles. "I warned you. I told you that this war was pointless, that we would find a way to break free from you." Tobias jutted a finger in the Gamorians faces. For so long, the Garmorians were once their allies, their brothers in conflict. But that all changed with the underhanded tactics the Garmorians had used - had wielded to enslave the human race the moment an opportunity presented itself. It was just a moment of weakness. A lapsed of judgement on their behalf. They had trusted their friends from afar - the shared understanding. "I told you this - we will never give up." Tobias raised the gun in his hand. "I said that we would fight to the bitter end for our people." The gun weighed a millions tons as Tobias laid the barrel on the temple of his so-called brother. Al-fak, the man he'd thought he'd come to trust, to believe in, merely raised a groggy head, an eye turning over the field of dead filled with his people. "You told me you had no weapons against us." That had been a lie, of course. It was always a lie. Tobias cocked his gun. "A true leader would hide his last resort from invading beings." "A true friend would've been honest from the beginning." Al-fak said. "A 'real' friend, would've chose a different path than this." Tobias fought the whimper of sadness in his tone but failed to. Al-fak could only inhale sharply. He knew he was beaten the moment he'd attacked first. He'd bombed the hell out of the largest country on earth, and when his crew celebrated the fires that had burned, he'd lamented his decision. It had all been a sham from the beginning. From his first descent onto the world, he'd had his orders from the monarch that held his leash. He was to gain their trust, to gain their acceptance and then betray them - turning the planet into their new settlement. He will admit to a falter in his decision. When he'd first met Tobias, his compassion and kindness was a jarring experience that clouded his judgemeny. He'd thought it would be an easy task. A quick task. But he was wrong. The humans had known war better than the Garmorians. They had a better understanding of the cost for it. The pain it brought. The people it sacrificed... "Close your eyes," Tobias said. It was the only kindness he'd allow. Especially with the crowd of soldiers watching him. So, Al-fak did. He'd shut his eyelids tight and murmured his final words to his friend, "I'm sorry."	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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	In the year 2100, humanity finally achieved global peace. It was not an easy task. It took several wars, hundreds of crisises, 20 billion deaths and climate change but eventually the remaining humans learned to coexist peacefully. The 22nd century was seen as the greatest golden age in human history, a century of prosperity and development for all of humanity undivided by race, gender, or geography. It was also this century that saw humanity emerge as a multiplanatory species. Colonizing Mars, Pluto and everything in between. The next four centuries saw further expansion of the human race and by the time the Universal sentient Council found out about them, their numbers were in the hundreds of trillions and they had an entire galaxy to call as their own. This meant that when they joined the council, they were already high in the pecking order as many other species were much smaller in power and numbers alike. However, there were still more than a dozen species that could entirely decimate the humans and a handful who were their equals. The Council had existed for nearly 3000 years, yet they had never seen a race like the humans. They were wary of humans at first, but soon learned that these were some of the most pacifist creatures in the universe. Not only did they never have internal conflicts which even the strongest species were prone to, but their skill in statecraft, politics and diplomacy meant they never had to take to the battlefield. In 500 years, humans had grown quite a bit in stature and importance in the council. So much so that they could prevent a war between the junior races merely by their words. Yet for all their glory, they had also earned the disdain of others. Some species knew only war. They saw the reluctance of humans to take up arms not as an admirable trait, but a sign of weakness. The top three species, the Andromeins, the Saxofys, and the Yurnkilians were not happy to lose their influence to the upjumped humans. They had fighting constantly for power and influence in the council for millennium, often making the other species fight proxy wars on their behalf. It was why they kept expanding the council, to have more species to influence. They were three rival factions, and it was a known fact that you had to join one of them or you ended up earning their enmity. Apparently the humans never learned that. They were making their own faction now. Emerging as a fourth side in this power struggle and more and more species were now following their lead. It was frustrating and made the Three Great Species as they were often called, angry as hell. They decided to do something they had never done in their milenium long history, they formed an alliance. Each one was strong enough to destroy the humans on their own, but together, the whole thing would take no longer than a week. And so it was. On 4th June, 3019 AD, the Milky Way was invaded for the first time. The advanced warships made quick work of the defenses and the frontiers of the galaxy fell within a day. The humans did not resort to diplomacy this time. They did not even attend the council meetings from that day forth. Simply sending a message: you have made your last mistake. These words would be proven true in a mere week. For that is exactly how long it took for the Great Species to learn the truth of humanity. They had not fought a war in nearly a millennium, and thus had restrained bloodlust running through their veins. When war broke out, every single human, rich or poor, young or old, boy or girl, earthling or a colonist, EVERYONE decided to fight. The entire economy was turned into a war time one. Ordinary civilians had their food rationed to ensure supplies for soldiers and all of their income except an allowance for the basic necessities was paid as taxes for the war effort. All the industries were now producing good for the war effort and billions were sent as foot soldiers. The efficiency of humans had long been praised throughout the known universe but now it was cranked up to 11. Production of all sorts of goods seemed to double overnight and soldiers were given a year's worth of training in 4 months. The entire human race now had only one purpose to their existence, this war. It was frightening the lengths they went to. No bar was too low, no method too barbaric. They sent millions of spies, assassins and sleeper cells alike. All sowing chaos in the enemy ranks and causing deaths left right and center, mostly their own. There were many intergalaxy criminal gangs across the universe and the humans seemingly created triple as many every week. Their science advanced at a thunderous pace, coming up with new designs for everything from handguns to spaceships, to missiles and the like on almost a daily basis. The advantage the Three Great Species held in this conflict quickly disappeared and as the war stalled, they felt the pressure as their own people protested against the unnecessary violence. Ultimately the war lasted a full decade. A violent decade that saw the extermination of one race, the death of hundred of trillions, the extinction of entire planets and galaxies and suffering untold. On the 4th of June, 3029 AD, with the treaty of Jaipur, did the war finally come to an end, and the world learned an important lesson. NEVER MESS WITH HUMANS.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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 universe exists in the middle of an explosion. Billions of stars burn and then shed their matter across the void as they burn out. Our species developed from that matter to rule. We clawed our way out of our gravity well and fought any other species that dared to join us in space. Until we came across humans. They are tiny compared to us. Fragile. Insignificant. They cannot bear the energy of stars without protection, even on their world. The void crushes them outside their gravity well, so they developed shelters to explore from. We tore those shelters to pieces before we even recognized what they were. They struck back using matter, which we ignored. They struck back using energy, which annoyed us. Then they struck back using stars. How did such insignificant things harness the power of stars? Somehow they can create them at will. We lost an entire colony in their system before we realized what had happened. Then the war began in earnest. We had fought all others into submission yet could not stop humans. They were too small. Kill one, and a million come next. They breed faster than any other thinking creatures we have found and can live on useless scraps of matter. They fear nothing. We thought to keep them isolated in their system, but an infestation of them hid on our ship until it reached our home. They exploited our infrastructure and used what they could steal to sustain their colony. In that short time, their numbers grew exponentially, and they learned our ways. Once we arrived home, they used that knowledge to ignite suns all over the system to damaging effect. My homeworld is completely overrun now. No one can help me. I write this last message as my orbit decays into the sun. Do not fight humans. They are war.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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 Terrans had built Universities, hospitals, revolutionized inter-stellar commerce. They worked as ambassadors to negotiate peace and trade deals amongst the galactic community. Their few colonies built on out of the way unhospitable worlds. Their fleet was made of trade vessels, science ships, and pleasure yachts. They had a reputation as bringers of peace, knowledge, and healing. Then came the Garanzan incident. The Garanzan we new to the interstellar community, warlike, domineering, and powerful. Their armada outnumbered the combined forces of the allied races, they conquered whole worlds in a matter of days. When the Garanzan entered Melcap space the Melcap reached out Humanity to help negotiate a peace settlement. The Terrans send their premier ambassador to an arranged peace conference hosted by the Melcap. The entire Garanzan fleet showed up to the appointed meeting station and murdered the Melcap and Terran diplomats and broadcast the gruesome killings across known space. Three days later another Terran ambassador was dispatched to to the Garanzan home world with a single message. "Cease all hostilities at once or the United Terran Forces will declare war on the Garanzan." The Garanzan's sent back his head as a declaration of war. The Garanzan turned their fleets from the Melcap and attacked all known Terran colonies. For six months the Garanzan attacked and butchered humans ill equipped to fight against such military might. But even those fights became brutal battles against insurgencies, suicide attacks, and desperate counter attacks all meant to buy time. While the Allied races stood by and watched they knew Humanities time on the intergalactic stage was up. The Garanzan were too powerful, too numerous, and too blood thirsty to be stopped. Then came Terran Armada. After half of year of holding actions and watching their people die humanity struck back. The Garanzan were assaulting the human space platform Excalibur, a human outpost built for the Alliance to foster learning, trade and diplomacy. The station was a bastion of learning, commerce, and the best hospital in known space. Excalibur station was a massive installation of over one hundred thousand humans. The Garanzan saw the station as a monument to Terran weakness. General Gaulfluax recounts that day; "I ordered targeting on the facilities power generators to bring down their pitiful shields and allow our boarding craft to send reavers onto the station." "I had lead the campaign on the Ceti 4 colony and knew there would be heavy if ineffectual resistance. The humans were inventive and tenacious, but no match for reavers in full battle armor. I wanted to take the station as intact as possible to plunder it's technology. Humans were weak but their technology was far ahead of ours in terms of medicine and science." "Just as the shields faltered and I ordered the attack craft away a massive energy surge was reported above my fleet. A full Terran battle group emerged from space fold in perfect attack formation. You laugh now, but we had no clue then what we were up against." "Admiral McMullen opened hail to my ship and delivered an ultimatum. 'Surrender now or face destruction, you have 3 minutes' and signed off. I laughed, what could a single battle group do against my entire fleet. I stopped laughing after our assault craft were blown out of stars." "Have you every seen a Saturn Knight tear an assault craft apart? They use quantum energy blasts to take down our shields and then just rip the ships apart with their lances. And they can deploy dozens of them, each so small you can't see them on the scopes, I don't know how they do it." "Worse is the main cannon's on their assault ships, an energy beam a mile wide and ten miles long that annihilates anything in it's path. My fleet was torn to shreds after the first volley. To think all it took was six months to build such powerful weapons." General Gaulflaux surrendered after seven and a half minutes of combat. His fleet lost ninety percent of it's ships. The Terran vessels suffered zero losses. After the formal declaration of war Humanity reconstituted it's naval academy and repurposed and expanded the Mars foundries into an orbital ship yard capable of producing the massive warship in under a month. Marines were dispatched to colony worlds knowing they'd never return home to hold back the tides and buy humanity the time it needed to build a fleet capable of taking down the Garanzan. It happened all across the Garanzan empire. Terran battle groups would spacefold into attack position, demand surrender and open fire if no response was given. The Terran war machine turned out ships and crews at such a rate that their enemies were out numbered in just over two years of war. Terran Ambassadors now travel on small naval warships and are flanked at diplomatic events by Saturn Knights. The Terran Armada provides security across a thousand systems. And the Garanzan, they are slowly rebuilding their society with the assistance of the Terran Peace Corp.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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	"One Earthling, diplomat. How can you justify this madness on account of one sole Earthling?" The human stretched its angular limbs and considered the battlefield. Outside the star vessel lay our fleet. In ruins. I could see soldiers floating in the void of space, frozen solid as rock, all with the same expression on their faces: pure horror. "Don't say we didn't warn you, Xehemultran." Humans had domesticated themselves, turned themselves into pets; it was common knowledge. That was why they did not want to participate in galactic conflicts, that was why they were considered the ultimate neutral species. Diplomacy and trifles, words and empty gestures. Everyone knew humans did not fight. So how could this have happened? "This is sheer insanity. You have murdered billions. You have eradicated entire civilizations." "Yup." The human fidgeted with a finger inside its mouth, cleaning out some gunk. "All of this for Bella? Do you consider this destruction to be worth it?" "Oh, absolutely." I shook my heads. "She was not even a human." "Correct," said the Earthling. He pointed his weapon at me. "She was a cat." Expressionless, the human pulled the trigger.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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	Log 1.01 - 6462/55 Potential major new biodiversity harvest, Arm 4, stellar coordinates \[classified\]. Approximately 9 million identifiable species, DNA-based. Minor indigenous sapience, no world government, hive mind, or cybernetic control. Not even common language. 1.02 - 6462/56 Received message from imperial satrap, Council of Entities agrees with assessment, harvest of new world moved to top priority, codename Project Windfall. Biodiversity loss on Zor homeworlds considerably graver than generally leaked to non-Council Entities, new harvests to take priority over inorganic material harvests. Changing course to Windfall. 2.01 - 6462/87 Reached Windfall. Harvester ships Ixin, Cath, Roklut expected to arrive by 90-91. Recon drones deployed. 2.02 - 6462/89 Recon drones confirm probe drone. Massive biodiversity lode plus abundant liquid water. No organized opposition. Indigenous sapience in form of tribal/social primates, greater native intelligence than any other non-Zor species yet encountered, rudimentary AI capabilities, but most advanced capabilities used to fight other members of same species. Most advanced weapons are fission type, they hesitate to use them on one another only due to threat of retaliation in kind, but still an impressive accomplishment for a species with no guiding central authority. Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, will set aside additional share of the most bountiful harvest in the last millennium for the Zor if he'll sponsor additional seat on Council of Entities. 2.03 - 6462/92 Harvester ships arrived. Commencing harvest of Windfall. 2.04 - 6462/99 Native primate technology as expected is no match for ours. Multiple ape social colonies ("cities") razed and harvested. Resistance fierce but ineffective. 3.01 - 6462/120 Harvest progressing but slower than expected. Native primates behave in substantially unanticipated ways exposed to new stimuli. No significant trouble expected but we should perhaps pay attention to their social reaction complex as interesting in its own right, not mere biodiversity in a universe in which that always appears to be shrinking. 3.02 - 6462/160 Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, harvest can progress as things stand but additional armed escorts would assist. Native primates ("humans," they call themselves) demonstrate substantial adaptive capabilities, particularly with respect to martial capabilities. As you are aware, our weapons cannot be used by nonmembers of our species due to DNA coding that makes all our weapons cease function if held by an entity not of our species. In less than 50 days, these "humans" came up with the barbarous but effective adaptation of making gloves out of our skins, allowing them to hold our weapons and turn them against us. 3.03 - 6462/161 Humans merit further study after skin-stealing adaptation. Harvested multiple of their soldiers, of various ages, intact. Placed in stasis for further study. 3.04 - 6462/197 Almost all standard harvest protocols for problematic biodiversity surprisingly ineffective with respect to humans. Already considering resorting to Cleanser virus but degradation of the biodiversity haul of Windfall would substantially impair strategic objectives of harvest in the first place. 3.05 - 6462/249 Human population ongoing adaptation proving dangerous. Multiple counteroffensives and countermeasures somehow initiated spontaneously, imitating coordination with no coordinating authority or intelligence. Spontaneous organization of species-wide resistance including against orbital and ecological attacks. Apologies to the Council of Entities, but we cannot leave them alive. Initiating Cleanser virus, programming human DNA as primary target but DNA similarity of human and other biodiversity on this planet means harvest will be dramatically curtailed. 3.06 - 6462/259 - URGENT Cleanser virus largely successful but significant populations of humans remain alive. Moreover, those left alive appear to have sequenced and adapted it to attack us, somehow in the space of ten days. Expeditionary force and harvesters have withdrawn to ships. Will proceed with battle against humans and harvest Windfall with drone tech alone. Analysis at this point is pessimistic; drone tech alone unlikely to prevail given chaotic but frenetic adaptation of human species so far against Cleanser and other rogue biodiversity countermeasures. 4.01 - 6262/272 - URGENT Developing incident in progress in stasis chamber, unscheduled maintenance mode activations, emergency termination sequence malfunctioning. Human soldier prisoners may be loose onboard. 4.02 - 6462/272 - URGENT They are coming. Initiating self destruct. 5.01 - July 3, 2077 - YEAH, PROBABLY STILL URGENT Cool log. Looks like the self-destruct failed though. That kinda sucks. Sucks that we had to use your harvest ships to harvest the remains of most of our own cities, too, but there wasn't much left of them and at least your little flying factories helped us jumpstart our own fleet with all the metal of our old cities. Gotta live somewhere. And the view of Earth from space is still majestic even if y'all fucked it up on the surface. Oh, also, if you're reading this, just FYI ... we're still coming. Got nothing else to do now, and payback's a bitch. Signed, Humanity.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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 still remember the look on Ambassador Ford’s (Betelgeusean Republic’s representative to the former Galactic Councils 300 BT – 5 TA) face when I informed him we had declared war on the pathetic Humans of the Terran Federation. His blue blood drained from his face, leaving a dirty yellow visage which had previously shone a healthy green. The only thing he said was ‘What have you done?’ which I thought wwas just due to Betelgeusean fondness for the cowardly pacifistic species. If only we had known the truth…” – Gragtun’iik’iill, Former Krillnean Ambassador to the Galactic Councils 89 BT – 7 BT Warfare has changed very little since the first slightly complex multicellular organisms began banding together to fight one another over limited resources. The equation generally comes down to who can out produce the other in manpower, supplies, or weapons. For as terrifying and powerful a new weapon system may be, it can still be outclassed by sheer volume. At the dawn of the Terran Alliance, a heavily modified version of this calculation was in use to determine the general effectiveness of galactic empires. The weapon system of the day, as for most navies throughout history, was the battleship. Advanced civilizations, such as The Betelgeusean Republic, were capable of building, crewing, and launching these behemoths in only 50 cycles. In 10 BT the rising Krillnean Empire felt that their armada, while small on the galactic scale, would be well equipped to destroy the peace loving, ever negotiating, Terran Federation. Afterall Terra had only 20 battleships in service, and had not completed a new such vessel in over 150 cycles. Krillnea was able to produce a vessel in as few as 80 cycles, and had a standing navy of over 500 ships. Additionally, due to the sensitive and specialized nature of the systems on board a starship, let alone a warship, a certain level of training and experience was required. This training and practical experience was extremely costly, and could take dozens of cycles for a Human to acquire, but for the long-lived children of the Krillnean Hives, born to carry out specific tasks, it was simple. The game of numbers, it seemed, was decided. As war commenced, the humans fought bravely to defend their colonies, but the numbers were against them. The Terran Fleet was destroyed in combat around Proxima Centauri, and colonies fell one after another. The Krillnean Armada advanced methodically, but sustained a far higher rate of losses than initially expected, which while concerning, was overshadowed by the rapid advance to the Human’s home system of Sol. The Battle of Sol (7 BT) was a turning point in the evolution of warfare. Standard practice had been to harvest asteroid, moons, rocky planetoids, and anything available for raw materials to process into Space Ship components. This took time, capital, and abundant resources. With the main Terran shipyards destroyed, and with access to her colonies cut off, the Terran Federation appeared to be teetering on extinction. What the Krillnean armada encountered upon entering the Sol system was not a scrambling mass of scared civilians, but a star system that had been entirely strip mined, and a brand new, incredibly massive fleet of “Warships” waiting for them. The Sol system had always been considered somewhat of an anomaly. It had not one but two asteroid belts surrounding it, one of which harbored several larger planetoids. While these raw materials would have been a boon to most industries, the density of the belts in Sol made harvesting these resources a very laborious and risky endeavor. Even then, those resources would need to be refined methodically, and carefully to ensure no errant debris might strike a vessel or colony, and standard practice was to dump the empty husks of these asteroids into the nearest star, where it may safely be consumed. The Terran Federation had several larger asteroids in stable orbits near their home planet of Earth, most were completely devoid of usable material and were merely awaiting their turn to be sent sunward. For Humanity they became salvation. Instead of building a warship from scratch, Terran engineers crawled over these husks, fitting them with reactors, weapons systems, thrusters, and crude life support systems. When manpower turned out to be lacking, regular civilians pitched in to help, many of them having never performed a spacewalk or heavy construction previously. In total, over 600 such “vessels” were created over the span of a single cycle. Numerous other smaller asteroids were converted into unguided missiles, whose mass proved so effective at defeating point defense and shield systems that they are still in use today. The Krillnean armada of 573 ships and 6-8 million souls was entirely obliterated. While not particularly agile or comfortable, the extremely basic nature of the human warships allowed them to survive attacks from the latest weapons systems, usually with little to no adverse effects. In fact, during the Battle of Sol, the total Terran losses were 237,000 personnel across 7 ships destroyed, and 13 damaged. The Battle of Sol set the stage for the fall of the Galactic Council. As the Terran Federation reestablished control of her colonies and continued the fight towards the Krillnean home worlds, they continued to refine, improve, and produce their new class of vessels. Long since superseded by newer classes of warship, the Nemesis class battleships are still the most decorated vessels in the history of the Terran Alliance. The Nemesis, first of her class, is still in use today and has the honor of being not only the ship which fired the first shot at the Battle of Sol, but also the vessel which destroyed the last enemy ship during the War of Unification between the Terran Federation and the Galactic Councils.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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	“Examiner, have you reached any conclusions?” The holo-video lit up in the center of the laboratory. The face of Preator Endex filled the void in the center of the room. “Yes. Praetor. The specimen you provided was intact enough to draw a conclusion,” Examiner Zendex replied. “If I may ask, how was such a faultless specimen procured?” “By accident, Examiner.” Zendex could hear the embarrassment in the Preator’s voice. The Klee were notorious for their ability to plan. To have a complete human specimen simply fall into their possession as an act of luck was an insult to the Praetor’s ability to calculate probable outcomes. Still, it was likely that the additional information to be gleaned from studying a full anatomy could very well prove the turning of the war. “I see.” Zendex obfuscated his disapproval outwardly, while in actual fact he was enjoying the Praetor’s discomfort. No less than twelve successors to the current Praetor had all tried to turn the tide of the galactic conflict. Over fifty cycles, and none had succeeded. For all his braggadocio, Praetor Endex had proven equally incapable of mastering the necessary variables to overcome this foe. Not that it wasn’t a complex problem…. “Please, state your conclusion, then propose the underlying premises,” the Praetor encouraged. “Of course,” Zendex paused, wondering if the magnitude of his discoveries would be fully communicated, much less appreciated by the greater Klee protectorate. “The additional information gleaned from this specimen leads to the conclusion that this war will be over in less than two cycles.” The Praetor bared his mandibles in a sign of satisfaction. “Ah, we have it then. What is your margin of error?” The Examiner balked. To ask the question of an Examiner of such high esteem was almost an insult. “Within the ninety ninth percentile, Praetor.” “Then by all means, state your premises.” It was customary in Klee society to state the conclusion of an encounter first, then reveal the necessary background information informing the deduction. To save on the need for pointless interactions, a subordinate would typically accept the conclusions of an Elder. This was given to the Klee’s exceptional ability to calculate probabilities into several dimensions of thinking. To inquire into the basis for a deduction was to show interest, and thus respect, for the proponent of the conclusion. The Praetor was clearly showing great respect for the Examiner’s presentation. Such deference deserved a thorough exhibition. “I direct your attention to the specimen, Praetor.” The lifeless body of the pale human lay limply on the examining table, its various entrails and organs neatly stacked in a small row next to it. “As you can see from the scorian readout, the Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Muscular and Renal systems of these humans are typical of a class four evolutionary primateon species. Other than the digestive systems ability to vacate a surprising number of toxins, these systems are rather unremarkable...” The presentation continued, analyzing each biological strength and weakness in turn. The Praetor patiently listened. The Klee had conquered thousands of species in galactic combat. No race had been able to withstand their superior minds, being able to calculate and adapt to thousands of permutations and possible outcomes. And so it was supposed to be a simple conquest of this backward human world. Their superior numbers and technology obvious, the Klee had offered the humans a dignified surrender almost simultaneously with their invasion. The Klee war counsel had noted that the humans preferred to rely on diplomacy, which loosely translated basically meant mutual surrender, with neither side a victor. Words were a decent enough tool to fend off aggression in some cases. But without the might to back up those words … the Klee knew better. Despite its 1,000 years of peace with its neighbors, the Klee knew that no diplomacy would be enough to prevent Earth’s capture. At least, they thought they knew. Despite the analytical approach to the invasion, this unremarkable species had left cataclysmic destruction in its wake. Generally, an intergalactic war took one, maybe two cycles to conclude, especially when victory from one side or the other was all but assured. Once both sides concluded that victory was inevitable, a ceremonial surrender was typical. But the current conflict had lasted over fifty cycles, and the waste of resources had nearly drained the empire into insolvency. It wouldn’t be long until the outer systems calculated weakness… These humans did not conform to any known parameters. In most conflicts, multiple circumstances could be calculated, reevaluated, predicted. But not humans. In one iteration, humans would behave conservatively, almost to a fault. Giving ground even when obvious advantages could clearly be seized. In other encounters, they displayed a recklessness and ferocity known only among the unevolved. Fifty cycles later and they were just as impossible to predict as the day the Klee invaded Earth. The Earth invasion was a disaster by any tactical standard. It had been studied, reanalyzed, reinterpreted. But no solid conclusions could be reached. Upon landfall, the humans initially reacted as any other class four primateon. Family units hiding in fear. Communications disrupted. Military responses disorganized. And then, as if signaled by a Praetorean elite, something changed. The humans responded with the ferociousness and recklessness of an unevolved reptile or arachnid. Forces were marshaled imperfectly, but effectively. Counter offensives with no seeming probability of victory nevertheless succeeded. And once some Klee technology was in the hands of the enemy, the situation went all downsystem. Native humans with no military training whatsoever were taking up munitions and retaliating with no regard to their own existence. Elite human units advanced TOWARD certain death. By the time the provisional government envoy arrived to impose judicial order, the humans had routed all 36 expeditionary squads, including the capital ships. How in the nexus they even got up to the fleet centers remains a mystery, as human technology simply wasn’t advanced past placing geosynchronous communicators in their own orbit. To add insult, the humans used the captured fleet to commandeer the undefended bureaucratic envoy just after its arrival. And then? Then they repurposed the envoy to proclaim victory, making the Klee administrative apparatus assume the planet was in conquered status. It wasn’t until a whole cycle had passed until the Klee elite had noticed there wasn’t any tribute. But by then it was too late. The humans had adapted to the technology quickly. Not just to seize and use it, but also perverting Klee technology to suit their own destructive ends. From there, forty-nine cycles of interstellar destruction and chaos across entire systems. Unlike other space-faring species, the humans seem to have no respect for cosmic order. It is as if they must repurpose the universe itself to match their fleeting lifespan. They damage anything in their path to achieve even minor victories. Anger toward a conqueror was to be expected. But the patterns appeared to demonstrate a malice toward the Klee that could not have been predicted from an evolved species. Using space folding technology, they used a Klee warp engine to fold out the orbit of a key military installation, shifting it into the path of a black hole, and damaging the habitability of three separate colonies. They strapped fusion reactors onto refueling pylons and sent them back into the prime nexus, haphazardly destroying or crippling thirteen production outposts. In one engagement, a system neighboring a production facility with no military value was completely destroyed, a seemingly pointless act. But worst of all, in every encounter their soldiers and pilots show no regard whatsoever for their own personal safety, at times letting loose fission and fusion weapons of their own design, which spread fallout throughout half the Klee protectorate. It has made the end of the conflict nearly impossible to manage.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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 humans have sent us terms of surrender, and I suggest we accept them." The Ripak Emperor's chief military advisor kept his tone even, knowing what was about to happen. "Ah, excellent. So they've finally capitulated to our superior strength," replied the Emperor with a smile. "Tell me, what did they request to keep for themselves?" "No, sir, you misunderstand. They are not offering to surrender to us, they are offering to accept our surrender," replied the advisor, wincing. "And I really do suggest we accept the terms they offered." "What?!?!?" the Emperor screamed. "I should gut you myself for making such a cowardly statement." The Emperor reached for his blade, but paused when he saw his advisor remain still without making any attempts to take a defensive stance. "If I may, sir, I would rather die today at your hand than watch our empire burn should we continue to fight them." That made the Emperor pause. Even if his advisor had turned coward, he never would have gotten his position if he wasn't very intelligent. "Explain. If I don't like your answer, you'll get a coward's burial." Nodding, the advisor explained. "As you are aware, sir, the humans outnumber us nearly 500-to-1 in total population, even though their estimated military numbers are less than one tenth of ours. What we were not aware of, what nobody was aware of, is that every single member of their civilian population who is able to, is also ready and willing to fight. And every single member, able to fight or not, is willing to turn their entire purpose towards the war effort if needed. "Already, they have begun the process of converting all civilian manufacturing to military needs. New shipyards are being constructed; not just on major manufacturing planets but everywhere they can. Industries that would normally be seen as irrelevant to the military are finding ways to support the war effort. And this is just the beginning. I was provided with hundreds of hours of historical data showing the Humans' reaction to past conflicts some dating back to before they even left their original planet. Humans are not weak pacifists who avoid war because they are afraid to fight, they try to avoid war because of how easily they embrace it. They don't fear starting a fight, they fear that once they start they will never stop!" Hearing this last statement caused the Emperor's eyes to go wide, and he suddenly remembered something his late father (and predecessor) had told him as a young man. Do not try to provoke one who wishes peace, for they will fight the hardest to reclaim it. It was something he hadn't understood at the time, but now, faced with having done just that, he finally grasped the lesson his father had been trying to teach him. Closing his eyes, the Emperor asked quietly, "Tell me, will I survive the surrender terms? More importantly, will the Empire?"	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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. They'd choose words and diplomacy over conflict, sought peaceful resolutions to disputes, made... compromises. All signs of weakness and brittle will. It only made sense that we'd wage war, aim to subjugate and add them to our glorious empire and employ their feeble beings in service to our greatness. And just like that, they were a peaceful species no more. They accepted our declaration of war with remarkable calmness; where we expected panic and grovelling, they showed determination and acceptance. We thought little of it at first; come the first taste of combat, they'd kneel. When combat came, we realized our gross miscalculation. They had barely any army - and what little they had was employed in peacekeeping - yet they had far, far more than any other species in what they called "reserve". Humans who led normal, mundane lives as cooks, teachers, models, accountants; overnight, they all turned into seasoned, prepared warriors with years of training from their past. That they would have such training in war but not fight was... unthinkable. A warrior is a warrior, nothing else. Or so we thought. Their fleet comprised of so many trading vessels, luxury liners, medevacs and more soon turned into engines of war lined with slapdash weaponry and haphazard shielding, unsafe for foes and crew alike. Humans, when pushed to the brink, had little concern for safety. This state, this 'Total War' they called it, was an absolute determination to win... or die trying. We've never seen anyone, let alone an entire species, face impossible odds and simply not care. Worse yet, the tactics they employ, the levels they are willing to stoop to, how much of their souls they're willing to give up in the name of victory, it's... monstrous. We thought humans were weak, choosing diplomacy, peace and compromise over war. We thought they were being cowardly. They were being kind.	"We all know they're weaklings, Commander Smith," The soldier said, saluting Commander Smith, "I mean, come on, they don't know how to fire gamma-rays. In fact, they haven't built any spaceships yet." "That's enough, Soldier 92-BII," said Commander Smith, "We're headed to their planet. The news spread that it colonized all of their star system after finishing the completion of Pluto a 'dwarf planet'. What a strange term." Commander Smith walked through the hallway. Soldier 92-BII looked out the window. The spherical object he saw had a red and gray surface, with a layer of nitrogen shaped as a heart. Nearby was another gray object, but one of it's poles was orange. "How fascinating. It seems yellow dwarves have the strongest gravity of all the stars." Soldier 92 said. A few minutes later, they had an encounter with a giant, dark blue orb with a relatively large moon. The ship steered towards the moon and eventually landed. Various soldiers began walking onto the surface of the alien world that was being controlled by humans. Amongst hushed tones, Soldier 92 learned that the name of the moon was 'Triton' and the planet it was orbiting was named 'Neptune'. "This is a true alien world." Soldier 92 said before realizing that Triton was his stop, so he scurried off. Looking around the icy world were giant structures made of metal and glass, rising high into the night sky. Some were connected. Humans could be seen walking amongst the city on the alien world, thriving. However, the peace ended, disturbed by a scream. Soldier 92 ran over to the source of the scream. Another soldier, Soldier 98-7BG, had stabbed a human in the chest. "What?!" Soldier 92 grunted angrily when he was tackled by a human, who was furious. "KILL THE ALIENS!" Someone said over an intercom. Total war had started. To 92's surprise, the human he was dueling was incredibly strong. Several of his allies' bodies began crashing onto the ground of Triton. Suddenly, a flicker of silver light. Humans left and right fell to the ground, their weapons disappearing. It was Commander Smith. "92, what happened? Why did this start?" "W-well, uh, 98 decided to stab a human, and apparently that made the rest of them mad, so then they started dueling us. To my surprise, they were holding their own. We have several fatalities, including 98." explained 92, gesturing to the corpses of his allies. "This is going to be one of many, I can just feel it."
[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	Humans are the most dangerous when they know they have nothing to loose. When they know they can't win, they'll devout everything they have to make sure that you don't win either. They prefer mutually assured destruction before surrender. By a wide margin. Never put a human in a corner. All those tidbits of media that escape their bubble before they did showed mostly weak, groveling people, begging for mercy when put against a superior force. That only applied when they where dealing with their own kind. To anyone else, they're basically rabid beasts. Only engage a group of humans when you are absolutely sure you can eradicate them all in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it's a lose/lose scenario. I've learned this the hard way, and it's by the skin off my teeth that I live to tell about it...	Everyone always assumed that the alien invasion would be violent. After our satellites had discovered spacecraft that we couldn't track to any nation's space program, my father began stockpiling weapons. Okay, he had been doing that already, but he began to stockpile harder. At least, that was until the spacecraft made landing and their diplomats reached Africa, and instead of killing en masse, they simply began constricting homes. No one, really saw an issue, they had come in peace. Of course they saw resistance from local governments, but the United Nations did not have the strength to to back up the Ivory Coast in their war with the Bulmerians, and NATO was a shell of it's former self after America began cutting back it's contributions. Eventually after a while the UN adopted a resolution of peace with the Bulmerians after our diplomats figured out their language. Earthly Bulmeria was given a seat in the UN and began expanding its influence over world politics as they began trading with humans. That was over twenty years ago, and now their communications from their home planet had given the order to expand. Humanity had not fought any major wars in over 50 years, and the aliens mistook that for weakness. In a way we were weak, as our divided nations sought to appease them, with most of the world being tributaries. However, in rural Appalachia we could not stand the US government, and I'll be good god damned if I was gonna pay income taxes to some two bit blue skinned jackass king a hundred light years away. The first revolt happened in Ireland. After unification, they were already wary of all empires, so when the Dáil decided to appease them, Dublin erupted into riots, murdered almost all of parliament, and installed a new one, who refused to pay tribute. The Bulmerians invaded, but they had expected conventional warfare with NATO or a similar power. Instead, they found their aircraft, spacecraft and even landcraft being sabotaged. Evidently Bulmerians we're unable to distinguish human powers, and had no respect for nationhood. So when they began punishing other nations who were happy to pay tribute for the bombing of their embassy in Britain, the whole world rose up in revolt. And so I sat in my living room, watching an old movie called "Braveheart" and working on an IED. After my brigade captured a series of pulse grenades from the local Bulmerian military base, I had set upon reverse engineering them, and was ready to try an upscaled version of it. "And there, you ready to try it?" I asked to my friend and comrade Patrick. "Fuck no," he said "but there's a caravan coming through today, so we can try it then." We had set up an ambush. I had inherited a 2025 Toyota Hilux from my granddad and had mounted a rebuilt M2 Browning to the back. It wasn't the latest and greatest, but it still worked, even after over a hundred years of service. We had parked it in the bushes, away from immediate líne of sight. Once I heard the sonic boom of the pulse mine i knew it was time, and I gripped the ma deuce as Patrick screamed past the caravan. I rained down bullets onto the vehicles, screaming like a berserker. The caravan had grinded to a halt, and the Bulmerian soldiers leapt from their vehicles trying to fire upon us but we were long gone. We heard sounds of continued gunfire as our comrades tagged in, raining down with a DShK and tossing in Molotov cocktails for good measure. That was simply one ambush in the long guerilla war for the Appalachians, and that was only one front I'm our global struggle against Bulmeria. They still hold most of Africa, but they failed to realize one thing: humans really don't like bullies.
[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 red light was blinking, indicating the failure of the shields, but the commander Ze’hyl could not be bothered. He was franticly looking through the data as the predictions of AI clearly did not match the reality, not anymore... It was his failure! He recommended the invasion of the Sol system. The home star of those gutless humans. \- How did it come to this?.. Decades of planning and analysis. These humans who would rather take the short end of a stick than show some spine. These… mammals who only know of negotiations, diplomacy, and compromise. Not a single interstellar conflict yet alone war since they joined the League. How are they doing this? It all went so well until we reached that small blue rock… The angry ichodrian drifted in thought as he was gazing upon the holographic display depicting the Sol system. \- Commendable effort for a race of a peace loving peons, it brought them some time but what of it or so I thought… Where all those ships, where all those troops came from? It cannot be technology, why would you lose so many positions if you had the means to defend them in the first place… Once again, he opened the human response to the declaration of war. The words sounded different from what he heard the first time. \- We hoped we could keep these doors closed forever. But now God help us all. As his mind was running through various scenarios, his eyes picked up on a small cloud of debris orbiting the sun in between the human home world and Venus. A strange thought formed in his head. \- What if, what if that cloud used to be a planet?... He updated the conditions for the AI and was met with despair. The predictions finally made sense and all it took was to name the cloud in between Venus and Mars a planet…	Everyone always assumed that the alien invasion would be violent. After our satellites had discovered spacecraft that we couldn't track to any nation's space program, my father began stockpiling weapons. Okay, he had been doing that already, but he began to stockpile harder. At least, that was until the spacecraft made landing and their diplomats reached Africa, and instead of killing en masse, they simply began constricting homes. No one, really saw an issue, they had come in peace. Of course they saw resistance from local governments, but the United Nations did not have the strength to to back up the Ivory Coast in their war with the Bulmerians, and NATO was a shell of it's former self after America began cutting back it's contributions. Eventually after a while the UN adopted a resolution of peace with the Bulmerians after our diplomats figured out their language. Earthly Bulmeria was given a seat in the UN and began expanding its influence over world politics as they began trading with humans. That was over twenty years ago, and now their communications from their home planet had given the order to expand. Humanity had not fought any major wars in over 50 years, and the aliens mistook that for weakness. In a way we were weak, as our divided nations sought to appease them, with most of the world being tributaries. However, in rural Appalachia we could not stand the US government, and I'll be good god damned if I was gonna pay income taxes to some two bit blue skinned jackass king a hundred light years away. The first revolt happened in Ireland. After unification, they were already wary of all empires, so when the Dáil decided to appease them, Dublin erupted into riots, murdered almost all of parliament, and installed a new one, who refused to pay tribute. The Bulmerians invaded, but they had expected conventional warfare with NATO or a similar power. Instead, they found their aircraft, spacecraft and even landcraft being sabotaged. Evidently Bulmerians we're unable to distinguish human powers, and had no respect for nationhood. So when they began punishing other nations who were happy to pay tribute for the bombing of their embassy in Britain, the whole world rose up in revolt. And so I sat in my living room, watching an old movie called "Braveheart" and working on an IED. After my brigade captured a series of pulse grenades from the local Bulmerian military base, I had set upon reverse engineering them, and was ready to try an upscaled version of it. "And there, you ready to try it?" I asked to my friend and comrade Patrick. "Fuck no," he said "but there's a caravan coming through today, so we can try it then." We had set up an ambush. I had inherited a 2025 Toyota Hilux from my granddad and had mounted a rebuilt M2 Browning to the back. It wasn't the latest and greatest, but it still worked, even after over a hundred years of service. We had parked it in the bushes, away from immediate líne of sight. Once I heard the sonic boom of the pulse mine i knew it was time, and I gripped the ma deuce as Patrick screamed past the caravan. I rained down bullets onto the vehicles, screaming like a berserker. The caravan had grinded to a halt, and the Bulmerian soldiers leapt from their vehicles trying to fire upon us but we were long gone. We heard sounds of continued gunfire as our comrades tagged in, raining down with a DShK and tossing in Molotov cocktails for good measure. That was simply one ambush in the long guerilla war for the Appalachians, and that was only one front I'm our global struggle against Bulmeria. They still hold most of Africa, but they failed to realize one thing: humans really don't like bullies.
[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	"Emperor, High Chancellor of Earth on Luma link to you", an advisor notified Emperor Gaumph. "Link up." The emperor replied. Holo visage of an elderly human sitting behind a desk materialized in the middle of the throne room. "I presume this is about your mutual defense treaty with Lakilla?" The emperor asked the apparition. "Yes. You shall withdraw all your forces immediately, or there will be dire consequences." The emperor laughed. "Two puny defenseless races without so much as an army in a mutual defense treaty. What a joke. What are you going to do? Establish embargo on Coca-Cola? It's a popular drink among our people but our supplies will last until Earth is conquered and we'll have it without tariffs." "We will destroy your cities, stations, colonies and capital ships one by one, until you surrender or until your successor surrenders." "You and what army?" "I think you're not treating our threat seriously, so let me demonstrate our capacity." High Counsellor tapped something on the desk in front of him. Surely a map in holo; you can't visualize a holo in another holo so it wasn't visible. One of advisors sprung to alert. "Emperor, I just got a report, Acordia just exploded." "The capital ship?! How?! Raise shields on all ships and planets now!" "The signature is antimatter, about a kilogram worth of antimatter annihilated, the ship was literally wiped out!" "Ah, so a hyperspace torpedo. They caught us unaware, but now with shields up they can fire away. Every object of importance is protected." Chancellor tapped some other spot. Another advisor jumped up. "Emperor, the army colony of Maruja is gone!" "Did they fail to raise the shield?" "No, Emperor! The shield is still up, and filled with inferno left after an anti-matter explosion!" "Attack! Send the armada to Earth! Destroy them before they destroy more of our resources!" The chancellor shook his head. "I was afraid it would come to this. Let us hope your second-in-command is more reasonable." He tapped a spot on his desk. A Coca-Cola dispenser machine in the lobby of the Imperial Palace made a quiet ding. Then the palace and the emperor ceased to exist in an antimatter explosion.	Everyone always assumed that the alien invasion would be violent. After our satellites had discovered spacecraft that we couldn't track to any nation's space program, my father began stockpiling weapons. Okay, he had been doing that already, but he began to stockpile harder. At least, that was until the spacecraft made landing and their diplomats reached Africa, and instead of killing en masse, they simply began constricting homes. No one, really saw an issue, they had come in peace. Of course they saw resistance from local governments, but the United Nations did not have the strength to to back up the Ivory Coast in their war with the Bulmerians, and NATO was a shell of it's former self after America began cutting back it's contributions. Eventually after a while the UN adopted a resolution of peace with the Bulmerians after our diplomats figured out their language. Earthly Bulmeria was given a seat in the UN and began expanding its influence over world politics as they began trading with humans. That was over twenty years ago, and now their communications from their home planet had given the order to expand. Humanity had not fought any major wars in over 50 years, and the aliens mistook that for weakness. In a way we were weak, as our divided nations sought to appease them, with most of the world being tributaries. However, in rural Appalachia we could not stand the US government, and I'll be good god damned if I was gonna pay income taxes to some two bit blue skinned jackass king a hundred light years away. The first revolt happened in Ireland. After unification, they were already wary of all empires, so when the Dáil decided to appease them, Dublin erupted into riots, murdered almost all of parliament, and installed a new one, who refused to pay tribute. The Bulmerians invaded, but they had expected conventional warfare with NATO or a similar power. Instead, they found their aircraft, spacecraft and even landcraft being sabotaged. Evidently Bulmerians we're unable to distinguish human powers, and had no respect for nationhood. So when they began punishing other nations who were happy to pay tribute for the bombing of their embassy in Britain, the whole world rose up in revolt. And so I sat in my living room, watching an old movie called "Braveheart" and working on an IED. After my brigade captured a series of pulse grenades from the local Bulmerian military base, I had set upon reverse engineering them, and was ready to try an upscaled version of it. "And there, you ready to try it?" I asked to my friend and comrade Patrick. "Fuck no," he said "but there's a caravan coming through today, so we can try it then." We had set up an ambush. I had inherited a 2025 Toyota Hilux from my granddad and had mounted a rebuilt M2 Browning to the back. It wasn't the latest and greatest, but it still worked, even after over a hundred years of service. We had parked it in the bushes, away from immediate líne of sight. Once I heard the sonic boom of the pulse mine i knew it was time, and I gripped the ma deuce as Patrick screamed past the caravan. I rained down bullets onto the vehicles, screaming like a berserker. The caravan had grinded to a halt, and the Bulmerian soldiers leapt from their vehicles trying to fire upon us but we were long gone. We heard sounds of continued gunfire as our comrades tagged in, raining down with a DShK and tossing in Molotov cocktails for good measure. That was simply one ambush in the long guerilla war for the Appalachians, and that was only one front I'm our global struggle against Bulmeria. They still hold most of Africa, but they failed to realize one thing: humans really don't like bullies.
[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've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	Everyone always assumed that the alien invasion would be violent. After our satellites had discovered spacecraft that we couldn't track to any nation's space program, my father began stockpiling weapons. Okay, he had been doing that already, but he began to stockpile harder. At least, that was until the spacecraft made landing and their diplomats reached Africa, and instead of killing en masse, they simply began constricting homes. No one, really saw an issue, they had come in peace. Of course they saw resistance from local governments, but the United Nations did not have the strength to to back up the Ivory Coast in their war with the Bulmerians, and NATO was a shell of it's former self after America began cutting back it's contributions. Eventually after a while the UN adopted a resolution of peace with the Bulmerians after our diplomats figured out their language. Earthly Bulmeria was given a seat in the UN and began expanding its influence over world politics as they began trading with humans. That was over twenty years ago, and now their communications from their home planet had given the order to expand. Humanity had not fought any major wars in over 50 years, and the aliens mistook that for weakness. In a way we were weak, as our divided nations sought to appease them, with most of the world being tributaries. However, in rural Appalachia we could not stand the US government, and I'll be good god damned if I was gonna pay income taxes to some two bit blue skinned jackass king a hundred light years away. The first revolt happened in Ireland. After unification, they were already wary of all empires, so when the Dáil decided to appease them, Dublin erupted into riots, murdered almost all of parliament, and installed a new one, who refused to pay tribute. The Bulmerians invaded, but they had expected conventional warfare with NATO or a similar power. Instead, they found their aircraft, spacecraft and even landcraft being sabotaged. Evidently Bulmerians we're unable to distinguish human powers, and had no respect for nationhood. So when they began punishing other nations who were happy to pay tribute for the bombing of their embassy in Britain, the whole world rose up in revolt. And so I sat in my living room, watching an old movie called "Braveheart" and working on an IED. After my brigade captured a series of pulse grenades from the local Bulmerian military base, I had set upon reverse engineering them, and was ready to try an upscaled version of it. "And there, you ready to try it?" I asked to my friend and comrade Patrick. "Fuck no," he said "but there's a caravan coming through today, so we can try it then." We had set up an ambush. I had inherited a 2025 Toyota Hilux from my granddad and had mounted a rebuilt M2 Browning to the back. It wasn't the latest and greatest, but it still worked, even after over a hundred years of service. We had parked it in the bushes, away from immediate líne of sight. Once I heard the sonic boom of the pulse mine i knew it was time, and I gripped the ma deuce as Patrick screamed past the caravan. I rained down bullets onto the vehicles, screaming like a berserker. The caravan had grinded to a halt, and the Bulmerian soldiers leapt from their vehicles trying to fire upon us but we were long gone. We heard sounds of continued gunfire as our comrades tagged in, raining down with a DShK and tossing in Molotov cocktails for good measure. That was simply one ambush in the long guerilla war for the Appalachians, and that was only one front I'm our global struggle against Bulmeria. They still hold most of Africa, but they failed to realize one thing: humans really don't like bullies.
[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	"Well, we knew the humans had a military. They had to, you see. The worlds they were colonizing were dangerous, lots of life forms that want nothing but to kill..." the old soldier trailed off, lost in his memories. "I understand sir, but..." I didn't want to be rude. Battle Commander Gorvg was a hero to the Pteron people, and one of the last to ever face a human in battle. So he was the perfect subject for my research. "Can we talk about what led to the war?" "I'm getting there, lots of background to cover. So anyway, they had a military, but they'd never used it. They were great talkers, could talk all 12 ears off a Nfalu! And so privately, a lot of species wanted to test the mettle of humanity. Had to find out if they could really make it in the universe." I glanced at the recorder. 2.5 hours already, and we hadn't even gotten to the fighting yet. "And then the Xaaluu decided they'd be the first." I laughed. "I'm sorry sir, the Xaaluu weren't around 2000 years ago. They died well before humans were discovered." Battle Commander Gorvg glared at me, his one good eye cold as ice. "You so readily believe your history books. The Xaaluu sent a Capital Battle Group to attack a new colony. 5 Capital ships, humans called them "Battleships", stupid name, all ships are battle ships. 10 Intermediate ships, and 20 Support ships per group." "Sir," I interjected. "Do you know what the humans called the other ships? Just for the record." "Cruisers and Destroyers, respectively. Good question, young one." He leaned back in his seat before continuing. "The colony had 2 'Heavy Frigates' for defense and carrying troops. Completely outclassed by the Xaaluu laser weaponry." "I can't imagine the fight lasted long, Sir." "No... it didn't. What no one realized was that the humans still fired metallic projectiles and had perfected energy shielding. And they had lots of guns on those ships. Those two ships put out more firepower in 5 minutes than the entire Xaaluu Battle Group could put out in a week." My notebook hit the floor. "We saw the scans. It took 5 minutes for those ships to kill a Capital Battle Group. And the humans didn't stop there. They sent their fleets, yes! Multiple fleets! Into Xaaluu space. We had never seen such destruction, such death." Gorvg's eye had glazed over, he wasn't in the room with me anymore; he was back there, 2000 years ago. "That's when the Pteron's joined the fight. And they hit us harder than we'd ever been hit before. Worlds burned, every ship they saw utterly destroyed. We surrendered in weeks. But the Xaaluu fought on, and humanity was only too happy to extinguish their civilization." Gorvg sighed before continuing, "and then, when they had won, they returned. With ships and doctors and aid and food... to help us rebuild our worlds. The rest of the Galactic Council decided to hide this history from everyone. No one could know that we lived next to monsters. The most destructive, compassionate monsters we'd ever seen. It's a Capital offense, talking about this history, you know." For a 3000 year old veteran, Battle Commander Gorvg's reflexes hadn't slowed at all. Before I had even processed his last sentence, he had drawn and primed two Atomizer pistols. "But I think it's time to remember, young human." He motioned to the closet door, and I noticed footsteps approaching. "There's a trapdoor in there, take the ladder down. You'll find everything you need. Holodisks, holodrives, all the evidence of that old war. Hurry now, I'll hold them long enough for you to get away." The footsteps were closer now. I could hear the voices of the warriors, angry. They wanted blood. I rushed to the trapdoor, threw it open, and started down the ladder. Just before I closed the hatch, I took one last look at the hero. Battle Commander Gorvg of the Pteron people. He was smiling.	Everyone always assumed that the alien invasion would be violent. After our satellites had discovered spacecraft that we couldn't track to any nation's space program, my father began stockpiling weapons. Okay, he had been doing that already, but he began to stockpile harder. At least, that was until the spacecraft made landing and their diplomats reached Africa, and instead of killing en masse, they simply began constricting homes. No one, really saw an issue, they had come in peace. Of course they saw resistance from local governments, but the United Nations did not have the strength to to back up the Ivory Coast in their war with the Bulmerians, and NATO was a shell of it's former self after America began cutting back it's contributions. Eventually after a while the UN adopted a resolution of peace with the Bulmerians after our diplomats figured out their language. Earthly Bulmeria was given a seat in the UN and began expanding its influence over world politics as they began trading with humans. That was over twenty years ago, and now their communications from their home planet had given the order to expand. Humanity had not fought any major wars in over 50 years, and the aliens mistook that for weakness. In a way we were weak, as our divided nations sought to appease them, with most of the world being tributaries. However, in rural Appalachia we could not stand the US government, and I'll be good god damned if I was gonna pay income taxes to some two bit blue skinned jackass king a hundred light years away. The first revolt happened in Ireland. After unification, they were already wary of all empires, so when the Dáil decided to appease them, Dublin erupted into riots, murdered almost all of parliament, and installed a new one, who refused to pay tribute. The Bulmerians invaded, but they had expected conventional warfare with NATO or a similar power. Instead, they found their aircraft, spacecraft and even landcraft being sabotaged. Evidently Bulmerians we're unable to distinguish human powers, and had no respect for nationhood. So when they began punishing other nations who were happy to pay tribute for the bombing of their embassy in Britain, the whole world rose up in revolt. And so I sat in my living room, watching an old movie called "Braveheart" and working on an IED. After my brigade captured a series of pulse grenades from the local Bulmerian military base, I had set upon reverse engineering them, and was ready to try an upscaled version of it. "And there, you ready to try it?" I asked to my friend and comrade Patrick. "Fuck no," he said "but there's a caravan coming through today, so we can try it then." We had set up an ambush. I had inherited a 2025 Toyota Hilux from my granddad and had mounted a rebuilt M2 Browning to the back. It wasn't the latest and greatest, but it still worked, even after over a hundred years of service. We had parked it in the bushes, away from immediate líne of sight. Once I heard the sonic boom of the pulse mine i knew it was time, and I gripped the ma deuce as Patrick screamed past the caravan. I rained down bullets onto the vehicles, screaming like a berserker. The caravan had grinded to a halt, and the Bulmerian soldiers leapt from their vehicles trying to fire upon us but we were long gone. We heard sounds of continued gunfire as our comrades tagged in, raining down with a DShK and tossing in Molotov cocktails for good measure. That was simply one ambush in the long guerilla war for the Appalachians, and that was only one front I'm our global struggle against Bulmeria. They still hold most of Africa, but they failed to realize one thing: humans really don't like bullies.
[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 have no claimed that we were peaceful." Tobias said, a firm hand grasping the flag of the final human lands, the other curling tight around the hilt of his gun. It had been a long battle. A fight that took the lives of many brothers, fathers, and uncles. "I warned you. I told you that this war was pointless, that we would find a way to break free from you." Tobias jutted a finger in the Gamorians faces. For so long, the Garmorians were once their allies, their brothers in conflict. But that all changed with the underhanded tactics the Garmorians had used - had wielded to enslave the human race the moment an opportunity presented itself. It was just a moment of weakness. A lapsed of judgement on their behalf. They had trusted their friends from afar - the shared understanding. "I told you this - we will never give up." Tobias raised the gun in his hand. "I said that we would fight to the bitter end for our people." The gun weighed a millions tons as Tobias laid the barrel on the temple of his so-called brother. Al-fak, the man he'd thought he'd come to trust, to believe in, merely raised a groggy head, an eye turning over the field of dead filled with his people. "You told me you had no weapons against us." That had been a lie, of course. It was always a lie. Tobias cocked his gun. "A true leader would hide his last resort from invading beings." "A true friend would've been honest from the beginning." Al-fak said. "A 'real' friend, would've chose a different path than this." Tobias fought the whimper of sadness in his tone but failed to. Al-fak could only inhale sharply. He knew he was beaten the moment he'd attacked first. He'd bombed the hell out of the largest country on earth, and when his crew celebrated the fires that had burned, he'd lamented his decision. It had all been a sham from the beginning. From his first descent onto the world, he'd had his orders from the monarch that held his leash. He was to gain their trust, to gain their acceptance and then betray them - turning the planet into their new settlement. He will admit to a falter in his decision. When he'd first met Tobias, his compassion and kindness was a jarring experience that clouded his judgemeny. He'd thought it would be an easy task. A quick task. But he was wrong. The humans had known war better than the Garmorians. They had a better understanding of the cost for it. The pain it brought. The people it sacrificed... "Close your eyes," Tobias said. It was the only kindness he'd allow. Especially with the crowd of soldiers watching him. So, Al-fak did. He'd shut his eyelids tight and murmured his final words to his friend, "I'm sorry."	Everyone always assumed that the alien invasion would be violent. After our satellites had discovered spacecraft that we couldn't track to any nation's space program, my father began stockpiling weapons. Okay, he had been doing that already, but he began to stockpile harder. At least, that was until the spacecraft made landing and their diplomats reached Africa, and instead of killing en masse, they simply began constricting homes. No one, really saw an issue, they had come in peace. Of course they saw resistance from local governments, but the United Nations did not have the strength to to back up the Ivory Coast in their war with the Bulmerians, and NATO was a shell of it's former self after America began cutting back it's contributions. Eventually after a while the UN adopted a resolution of peace with the Bulmerians after our diplomats figured out their language. Earthly Bulmeria was given a seat in the UN and began expanding its influence over world politics as they began trading with humans. That was over twenty years ago, and now their communications from their home planet had given the order to expand. Humanity had not fought any major wars in over 50 years, and the aliens mistook that for weakness. In a way we were weak, as our divided nations sought to appease them, with most of the world being tributaries. However, in rural Appalachia we could not stand the US government, and I'll be good god damned if I was gonna pay income taxes to some two bit blue skinned jackass king a hundred light years away. The first revolt happened in Ireland. After unification, they were already wary of all empires, so when the Dáil decided to appease them, Dublin erupted into riots, murdered almost all of parliament, and installed a new one, who refused to pay tribute. The Bulmerians invaded, but they had expected conventional warfare with NATO or a similar power. Instead, they found their aircraft, spacecraft and even landcraft being sabotaged. Evidently Bulmerians we're unable to distinguish human powers, and had no respect for nationhood. So when they began punishing other nations who were happy to pay tribute for the bombing of their embassy in Britain, the whole world rose up in revolt. And so I sat in my living room, watching an old movie called "Braveheart" and working on an IED. After my brigade captured a series of pulse grenades from the local Bulmerian military base, I had set upon reverse engineering them, and was ready to try an upscaled version of it. "And there, you ready to try it?" I asked to my friend and comrade Patrick. "Fuck no," he said "but there's a caravan coming through today, so we can try it then." We had set up an ambush. I had inherited a 2025 Toyota Hilux from my granddad and had mounted a rebuilt M2 Browning to the back. It wasn't the latest and greatest, but it still worked, even after over a hundred years of service. We had parked it in the bushes, away from immediate líne of sight. Once I heard the sonic boom of the pulse mine i knew it was time, and I gripped the ma deuce as Patrick screamed past the caravan. I rained down bullets onto the vehicles, screaming like a berserker. The caravan had grinded to a halt, and the Bulmerian soldiers leapt from their vehicles trying to fire upon us but we were long gone. We heard sounds of continued gunfire as our comrades tagged in, raining down with a DShK and tossing in Molotov cocktails for good measure. That was simply one ambush in the long guerilla war for the Appalachians, and that was only one front I'm our global struggle against Bulmeria. They still hold most of Africa, but they failed to realize one thing: humans really don't like bullies.
[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	Log 1.01 - 6462/55 Potential major new biodiversity harvest, Arm 4, stellar coordinates \[classified\]. Approximately 9 million identifiable species, DNA-based. Minor indigenous sapience, no world government, hive mind, or cybernetic control. Not even common language. 1.02 - 6462/56 Received message from imperial satrap, Council of Entities agrees with assessment, harvest of new world moved to top priority, codename Project Windfall. Biodiversity loss on Zor homeworlds considerably graver than generally leaked to non-Council Entities, new harvests to take priority over inorganic material harvests. Changing course to Windfall. 2.01 - 6462/87 Reached Windfall. Harvester ships Ixin, Cath, Roklut expected to arrive by 90-91. Recon drones deployed. 2.02 - 6462/89 Recon drones confirm probe drone. Massive biodiversity lode plus abundant liquid water. No organized opposition. Indigenous sapience in form of tribal/social primates, greater native intelligence than any other non-Zor species yet encountered, rudimentary AI capabilities, but most advanced capabilities used to fight other members of same species. Most advanced weapons are fission type, they hesitate to use them on one another only due to threat of retaliation in kind, but still an impressive accomplishment for a species with no guiding central authority. Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, will set aside additional share of the most bountiful harvest in the last millennium for the Zor if he'll sponsor additional seat on Council of Entities. 2.03 - 6462/92 Harvester ships arrived. Commencing harvest of Windfall. 2.04 - 6462/99 Native primate technology as expected is no match for ours. Multiple ape social colonies ("cities") razed and harvested. Resistance fierce but ineffective. 3.01 - 6462/120 Harvest progressing but slower than expected. Native primates behave in substantially unanticipated ways exposed to new stimuli. No significant trouble expected but we should perhaps pay attention to their social reaction complex as interesting in its own right, not mere biodiversity in a universe in which that always appears to be shrinking. 3.02 - 6462/160 Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, harvest can progress as things stand but additional armed escorts would assist. Native primates ("humans," they call themselves) demonstrate substantial adaptive capabilities, particularly with respect to martial capabilities. As you are aware, our weapons cannot be used by nonmembers of our species due to DNA coding that makes all our weapons cease function if held by an entity not of our species. In less than 50 days, these "humans" came up with the barbarous but effective adaptation of making gloves out of our skins, allowing them to hold our weapons and turn them against us. 3.03 - 6462/161 Humans merit further study after skin-stealing adaptation. Harvested multiple of their soldiers, of various ages, intact. Placed in stasis for further study. 3.04 - 6462/197 Almost all standard harvest protocols for problematic biodiversity surprisingly ineffective with respect to humans. Already considering resorting to Cleanser virus but degradation of the biodiversity haul of Windfall would substantially impair strategic objectives of harvest in the first place. 3.05 - 6462/249 Human population ongoing adaptation proving dangerous. Multiple counteroffensives and countermeasures somehow initiated spontaneously, imitating coordination with no coordinating authority or intelligence. Spontaneous organization of species-wide resistance including against orbital and ecological attacks. Apologies to the Council of Entities, but we cannot leave them alive. Initiating Cleanser virus, programming human DNA as primary target but DNA similarity of human and other biodiversity on this planet means harvest will be dramatically curtailed. 3.06 - 6462/259 - URGENT Cleanser virus largely successful but significant populations of humans remain alive. Moreover, those left alive appear to have sequenced and adapted it to attack us, somehow in the space of ten days. Expeditionary force and harvesters have withdrawn to ships. Will proceed with battle against humans and harvest Windfall with drone tech alone. Analysis at this point is pessimistic; drone tech alone unlikely to prevail given chaotic but frenetic adaptation of human species so far against Cleanser and other rogue biodiversity countermeasures. 4.01 - 6262/272 - URGENT Developing incident in progress in stasis chamber, unscheduled maintenance mode activations, emergency termination sequence malfunctioning. Human soldier prisoners may be loose onboard. 4.02 - 6462/272 - URGENT They are coming. Initiating self destruct. 5.01 - July 3, 2077 - YEAH, PROBABLY STILL URGENT Cool log. Looks like the self-destruct failed though. That kinda sucks. Sucks that we had to use your harvest ships to harvest the remains of most of our own cities, too, but there wasn't much left of them and at least your little flying factories helped us jumpstart our own fleet with all the metal of our old cities. Gotta live somewhere. And the view of Earth from space is still majestic even if y'all fucked it up on the surface. Oh, also, if you're reading this, just FYI ... we're still coming. Got nothing else to do now, and payback's a bitch. Signed, Humanity.	Everyone always assumed that the alien invasion would be violent. After our satellites had discovered spacecraft that we couldn't track to any nation's space program, my father began stockpiling weapons. Okay, he had been doing that already, but he began to stockpile harder. At least, that was until the spacecraft made landing and their diplomats reached Africa, and instead of killing en masse, they simply began constricting homes. No one, really saw an issue, they had come in peace. Of course they saw resistance from local governments, but the United Nations did not have the strength to to back up the Ivory Coast in their war with the Bulmerians, and NATO was a shell of it's former self after America began cutting back it's contributions. Eventually after a while the UN adopted a resolution of peace with the Bulmerians after our diplomats figured out their language. Earthly Bulmeria was given a seat in the UN and began expanding its influence over world politics as they began trading with humans. That was over twenty years ago, and now their communications from their home planet had given the order to expand. Humanity had not fought any major wars in over 50 years, and the aliens mistook that for weakness. In a way we were weak, as our divided nations sought to appease them, with most of the world being tributaries. However, in rural Appalachia we could not stand the US government, and I'll be good god damned if I was gonna pay income taxes to some two bit blue skinned jackass king a hundred light years away. The first revolt happened in Ireland. After unification, they were already wary of all empires, so when the Dáil decided to appease them, Dublin erupted into riots, murdered almost all of parliament, and installed a new one, who refused to pay tribute. The Bulmerians invaded, but they had expected conventional warfare with NATO or a similar power. Instead, they found their aircraft, spacecraft and even landcraft being sabotaged. Evidently Bulmerians we're unable to distinguish human powers, and had no respect for nationhood. So when they began punishing other nations who were happy to pay tribute for the bombing of their embassy in Britain, the whole world rose up in revolt. And so I sat in my living room, watching an old movie called "Braveheart" and working on an IED. After my brigade captured a series of pulse grenades from the local Bulmerian military base, I had set upon reverse engineering them, and was ready to try an upscaled version of it. "And there, you ready to try it?" I asked to my friend and comrade Patrick. "Fuck no," he said "but there's a caravan coming through today, so we can try it then." We had set up an ambush. I had inherited a 2025 Toyota Hilux from my granddad and had mounted a rebuilt M2 Browning to the back. It wasn't the latest and greatest, but it still worked, even after over a hundred years of service. We had parked it in the bushes, away from immediate líne of sight. Once I heard the sonic boom of the pulse mine i knew it was time, and I gripped the ma deuce as Patrick screamed past the caravan. I rained down bullets onto the vehicles, screaming like a berserker. The caravan had grinded to a halt, and the Bulmerian soldiers leapt from their vehicles trying to fire upon us but we were long gone. We heard sounds of continued gunfire as our comrades tagged in, raining down with a DShK and tossing in Molotov cocktails for good measure. That was simply one ambush in the long guerilla war for the Appalachians, and that was only one front I'm our global struggle against Bulmeria. They still hold most of Africa, but they failed to realize one thing: humans really don't like bullies.
[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	“Examiner, have you reached any conclusions?” The holo-video lit up in the center of the laboratory. The face of Preator Endex filled the void in the center of the room. “Yes. Praetor. The specimen you provided was intact enough to draw a conclusion,” Examiner Zendex replied. “If I may ask, how was such a faultless specimen procured?” “By accident, Examiner.” Zendex could hear the embarrassment in the Preator’s voice. The Klee were notorious for their ability to plan. To have a complete human specimen simply fall into their possession as an act of luck was an insult to the Praetor’s ability to calculate probable outcomes. Still, it was likely that the additional information to be gleaned from studying a full anatomy could very well prove the turning of the war. “I see.” Zendex obfuscated his disapproval outwardly, while in actual fact he was enjoying the Praetor’s discomfort. No less than twelve successors to the current Praetor had all tried to turn the tide of the galactic conflict. Over fifty cycles, and none had succeeded. For all his braggadocio, Praetor Endex had proven equally incapable of mastering the necessary variables to overcome this foe. Not that it wasn’t a complex problem…. “Please, state your conclusion, then propose the underlying premises,” the Praetor encouraged. “Of course,” Zendex paused, wondering if the magnitude of his discoveries would be fully communicated, much less appreciated by the greater Klee protectorate. “The additional information gleaned from this specimen leads to the conclusion that this war will be over in less than two cycles.” The Praetor bared his mandibles in a sign of satisfaction. “Ah, we have it then. What is your margin of error?” The Examiner balked. To ask the question of an Examiner of such high esteem was almost an insult. “Within the ninety ninth percentile, Praetor.” “Then by all means, state your premises.” It was customary in Klee society to state the conclusion of an encounter first, then reveal the necessary background information informing the deduction. To save on the need for pointless interactions, a subordinate would typically accept the conclusions of an Elder. This was given to the Klee’s exceptional ability to calculate probabilities into several dimensions of thinking. To inquire into the basis for a deduction was to show interest, and thus respect, for the proponent of the conclusion. The Praetor was clearly showing great respect for the Examiner’s presentation. Such deference deserved a thorough exhibition. “I direct your attention to the specimen, Praetor.” The lifeless body of the pale human lay limply on the examining table, its various entrails and organs neatly stacked in a small row next to it. “As you can see from the scorian readout, the Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Muscular and Renal systems of these humans are typical of a class four evolutionary primateon species. Other than the digestive systems ability to vacate a surprising number of toxins, these systems are rather unremarkable...” The presentation continued, analyzing each biological strength and weakness in turn. The Praetor patiently listened. The Klee had conquered thousands of species in galactic combat. No race had been able to withstand their superior minds, being able to calculate and adapt to thousands of permutations and possible outcomes. And so it was supposed to be a simple conquest of this backward human world. Their superior numbers and technology obvious, the Klee had offered the humans a dignified surrender almost simultaneously with their invasion. The Klee war counsel had noted that the humans preferred to rely on diplomacy, which loosely translated basically meant mutual surrender, with neither side a victor. Words were a decent enough tool to fend off aggression in some cases. But without the might to back up those words … the Klee knew better. Despite its 1,000 years of peace with its neighbors, the Klee knew that no diplomacy would be enough to prevent Earth’s capture. At least, they thought they knew. Despite the analytical approach to the invasion, this unremarkable species had left cataclysmic destruction in its wake. Generally, an intergalactic war took one, maybe two cycles to conclude, especially when victory from one side or the other was all but assured. Once both sides concluded that victory was inevitable, a ceremonial surrender was typical. But the current conflict had lasted over fifty cycles, and the waste of resources had nearly drained the empire into insolvency. It wouldn’t be long until the outer systems calculated weakness… These humans did not conform to any known parameters. In most conflicts, multiple circumstances could be calculated, reevaluated, predicted. But not humans. In one iteration, humans would behave conservatively, almost to a fault. Giving ground even when obvious advantages could clearly be seized. In other encounters, they displayed a recklessness and ferocity known only among the unevolved. Fifty cycles later and they were just as impossible to predict as the day the Klee invaded Earth. The Earth invasion was a disaster by any tactical standard. It had been studied, reanalyzed, reinterpreted. But no solid conclusions could be reached. Upon landfall, the humans initially reacted as any other class four primateon. Family units hiding in fear. Communications disrupted. Military responses disorganized. And then, as if signaled by a Praetorean elite, something changed. The humans responded with the ferociousness and recklessness of an unevolved reptile or arachnid. Forces were marshaled imperfectly, but effectively. Counter offensives with no seeming probability of victory nevertheless succeeded. And once some Klee technology was in the hands of the enemy, the situation went all downsystem. Native humans with no military training whatsoever were taking up munitions and retaliating with no regard to their own existence. Elite human units advanced TOWARD certain death. By the time the provisional government envoy arrived to impose judicial order, the humans had routed all 36 expeditionary squads, including the capital ships. How in the nexus they even got up to the fleet centers remains a mystery, as human technology simply wasn’t advanced past placing geosynchronous communicators in their own orbit. To add insult, the humans used the captured fleet to commandeer the undefended bureaucratic envoy just after its arrival. And then? Then they repurposed the envoy to proclaim victory, making the Klee administrative apparatus assume the planet was in conquered status. It wasn’t until a whole cycle had passed until the Klee elite had noticed there wasn’t any tribute. But by then it was too late. The humans had adapted to the technology quickly. Not just to seize and use it, but also perverting Klee technology to suit their own destructive ends. From there, forty-nine cycles of interstellar destruction and chaos across entire systems. Unlike other space-faring species, the humans seem to have no respect for cosmic order. It is as if they must repurpose the universe itself to match their fleeting lifespan. They damage anything in their path to achieve even minor victories. Anger toward a conqueror was to be expected. But the patterns appeared to demonstrate a malice toward the Klee that could not have been predicted from an evolved species. Using space folding technology, they used a Klee warp engine to fold out the orbit of a key military installation, shifting it into the path of a black hole, and damaging the habitability of three separate colonies. They strapped fusion reactors onto refueling pylons and sent them back into the prime nexus, haphazardly destroying or crippling thirteen production outposts. In one engagement, a system neighboring a production facility with no military value was completely destroyed, a seemingly pointless act. But worst of all, in every encounter their soldiers and pilots show no regard whatsoever for their own personal safety, at times letting loose fission and fusion weapons of their own design, which spread fallout throughout half the Klee protectorate. It has made the end of the conflict nearly impossible to manage.	Everyone always assumed that the alien invasion would be violent. After our satellites had discovered spacecraft that we couldn't track to any nation's space program, my father began stockpiling weapons. Okay, he had been doing that already, but he began to stockpile harder. At least, that was until the spacecraft made landing and their diplomats reached Africa, and instead of killing en masse, they simply began constricting homes. No one, really saw an issue, they had come in peace. Of course they saw resistance from local governments, but the United Nations did not have the strength to to back up the Ivory Coast in their war with the Bulmerians, and NATO was a shell of it's former self after America began cutting back it's contributions. Eventually after a while the UN adopted a resolution of peace with the Bulmerians after our diplomats figured out their language. Earthly Bulmeria was given a seat in the UN and began expanding its influence over world politics as they began trading with humans. That was over twenty years ago, and now their communications from their home planet had given the order to expand. Humanity had not fought any major wars in over 50 years, and the aliens mistook that for weakness. In a way we were weak, as our divided nations sought to appease them, with most of the world being tributaries. However, in rural Appalachia we could not stand the US government, and I'll be good god damned if I was gonna pay income taxes to some two bit blue skinned jackass king a hundred light years away. The first revolt happened in Ireland. After unification, they were already wary of all empires, so when the Dáil decided to appease them, Dublin erupted into riots, murdered almost all of parliament, and installed a new one, who refused to pay tribute. The Bulmerians invaded, but they had expected conventional warfare with NATO or a similar power. Instead, they found their aircraft, spacecraft and even landcraft being sabotaged. Evidently Bulmerians we're unable to distinguish human powers, and had no respect for nationhood. So when they began punishing other nations who were happy to pay tribute for the bombing of their embassy in Britain, the whole world rose up in revolt. And so I sat in my living room, watching an old movie called "Braveheart" and working on an IED. After my brigade captured a series of pulse grenades from the local Bulmerian military base, I had set upon reverse engineering them, and was ready to try an upscaled version of it. "And there, you ready to try it?" I asked to my friend and comrade Patrick. "Fuck no," he said "but there's a caravan coming through today, so we can try it then." We had set up an ambush. I had inherited a 2025 Toyota Hilux from my granddad and had mounted a rebuilt M2 Browning to the back. It wasn't the latest and greatest, but it still worked, even after over a hundred years of service. We had parked it in the bushes, away from immediate líne of sight. Once I heard the sonic boom of the pulse mine i knew it was time, and I gripped the ma deuce as Patrick screamed past the caravan. I rained down bullets onto the vehicles, screaming like a berserker. The caravan had grinded to a halt, and the Bulmerian soldiers leapt from their vehicles trying to fire upon us but we were long gone. We heard sounds of continued gunfire as our comrades tagged in, raining down with a DShK and tossing in Molotov cocktails for good measure. That was simply one ambush in the long guerilla war for the Appalachians, and that was only one front I'm our global struggle against Bulmeria. They still hold most of Africa, but they failed to realize one thing: humans really don't like bullies.
[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 red light was blinking, indicating the failure of the shields, but the commander Ze’hyl could not be bothered. He was franticly looking through the data as the predictions of AI clearly did not match the reality, not anymore... It was his failure! He recommended the invasion of the Sol system. The home star of those gutless humans. \- How did it come to this?.. Decades of planning and analysis. These humans who would rather take the short end of a stick than show some spine. These… mammals who only know of negotiations, diplomacy, and compromise. Not a single interstellar conflict yet alone war since they joined the League. How are they doing this? It all went so well until we reached that small blue rock… The angry ichodrian drifted in thought as he was gazing upon the holographic display depicting the Sol system. \- Commendable effort for a race of a peace loving peons, it brought them some time but what of it or so I thought… Where all those ships, where all those troops came from? It cannot be technology, why would you lose so many positions if you had the means to defend them in the first place… Once again, he opened the human response to the declaration of war. The words sounded different from what he heard the first time. \- We hoped we could keep these doors closed forever. But now God help us all. As his mind was running through various scenarios, his eyes picked up on a small cloud of debris orbiting the sun in between the human home world and Venus. A strange thought formed in his head. \- What if, what if that cloud used to be a planet?... He updated the conditions for the AI and was met with despair. The predictions finally made sense and all it took was to name the cloud in between Venus and Mars a planet…	Humans are the most dangerous when they know they have nothing to loose. When they know they can't win, they'll devout everything they have to make sure that you don't win either. They prefer mutually assured destruction before surrender. By a wide margin. Never put a human in a corner. All those tidbits of media that escape their bubble before they did showed mostly weak, groveling people, begging for mercy when put against a superior force. That only applied when they where dealing with their own kind. To anyone else, they're basically rabid beasts. Only engage a group of humans when you are absolutely sure you can eradicate them all in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it's a lose/lose scenario. I've learned this the hard way, and it's by the skin off my teeth that I live to tell about it...
[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	"Emperor, High Chancellor of Earth on Luma link to you", an advisor notified Emperor Gaumph. "Link up." The emperor replied. Holo visage of an elderly human sitting behind a desk materialized in the middle of the throne room. "I presume this is about your mutual defense treaty with Lakilla?" The emperor asked the apparition. "Yes. You shall withdraw all your forces immediately, or there will be dire consequences." The emperor laughed. "Two puny defenseless races without so much as an army in a mutual defense treaty. What a joke. What are you going to do? Establish embargo on Coca-Cola? It's a popular drink among our people but our supplies will last until Earth is conquered and we'll have it without tariffs." "We will destroy your cities, stations, colonies and capital ships one by one, until you surrender or until your successor surrenders." "You and what army?" "I think you're not treating our threat seriously, so let me demonstrate our capacity." High Counsellor tapped something on the desk in front of him. Surely a map in holo; you can't visualize a holo in another holo so it wasn't visible. One of advisors sprung to alert. "Emperor, I just got a report, Acordia just exploded." "The capital ship?! How?! Raise shields on all ships and planets now!" "The signature is antimatter, about a kilogram worth of antimatter annihilated, the ship was literally wiped out!" "Ah, so a hyperspace torpedo. They caught us unaware, but now with shields up they can fire away. Every object of importance is protected." Chancellor tapped some other spot. Another advisor jumped up. "Emperor, the army colony of Maruja is gone!" "Did they fail to raise the shield?" "No, Emperor! The shield is still up, and filled with inferno left after an anti-matter explosion!" "Attack! Send the armada to Earth! Destroy them before they destroy more of our resources!" The chancellor shook his head. "I was afraid it would come to this. Let us hope your second-in-command is more reasonable." He tapped a spot on his desk. A Coca-Cola dispenser machine in the lobby of the Imperial Palace made a quiet ding. Then the palace and the emperor ceased to exist in an antimatter explosion.	Humans are the most dangerous when they know they have nothing to loose. When they know they can't win, they'll devout everything they have to make sure that you don't win either. They prefer mutually assured destruction before surrender. By a wide margin. Never put a human in a corner. All those tidbits of media that escape their bubble before they did showed mostly weak, groveling people, begging for mercy when put against a superior force. That only applied when they where dealing with their own kind. To anyone else, they're basically rabid beasts. Only engage a group of humans when you are absolutely sure you can eradicate them all in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it's a lose/lose scenario. I've learned this the hard way, and it's by the skin off my teeth that I live to tell about it...
[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've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	Humans are the most dangerous when they know they have nothing to loose. When they know they can't win, they'll devout everything they have to make sure that you don't win either. They prefer mutually assured destruction before surrender. By a wide margin. Never put a human in a corner. All those tidbits of media that escape their bubble before they did showed mostly weak, groveling people, begging for mercy when put against a superior force. That only applied when they where dealing with their own kind. To anyone else, they're basically rabid beasts. Only engage a group of humans when you are absolutely sure you can eradicate them all in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it's a lose/lose scenario. I've learned this the hard way, and it's by the skin off my teeth that I live to tell about it...
[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	"Well, we knew the humans had a military. They had to, you see. The worlds they were colonizing were dangerous, lots of life forms that want nothing but to kill..." the old soldier trailed off, lost in his memories. "I understand sir, but..." I didn't want to be rude. Battle Commander Gorvg was a hero to the Pteron people, and one of the last to ever face a human in battle. So he was the perfect subject for my research. "Can we talk about what led to the war?" "I'm getting there, lots of background to cover. So anyway, they had a military, but they'd never used it. They were great talkers, could talk all 12 ears off a Nfalu! And so privately, a lot of species wanted to test the mettle of humanity. Had to find out if they could really make it in the universe." I glanced at the recorder. 2.5 hours already, and we hadn't even gotten to the fighting yet. "And then the Xaaluu decided they'd be the first." I laughed. "I'm sorry sir, the Xaaluu weren't around 2000 years ago. They died well before humans were discovered." Battle Commander Gorvg glared at me, his one good eye cold as ice. "You so readily believe your history books. The Xaaluu sent a Capital Battle Group to attack a new colony. 5 Capital ships, humans called them "Battleships", stupid name, all ships are battle ships. 10 Intermediate ships, and 20 Support ships per group." "Sir," I interjected. "Do you know what the humans called the other ships? Just for the record." "Cruisers and Destroyers, respectively. Good question, young one." He leaned back in his seat before continuing. "The colony had 2 'Heavy Frigates' for defense and carrying troops. Completely outclassed by the Xaaluu laser weaponry." "I can't imagine the fight lasted long, Sir." "No... it didn't. What no one realized was that the humans still fired metallic projectiles and had perfected energy shielding. And they had lots of guns on those ships. Those two ships put out more firepower in 5 minutes than the entire Xaaluu Battle Group could put out in a week." My notebook hit the floor. "We saw the scans. It took 5 minutes for those ships to kill a Capital Battle Group. And the humans didn't stop there. They sent their fleets, yes! Multiple fleets! Into Xaaluu space. We had never seen such destruction, such death." Gorvg's eye had glazed over, he wasn't in the room with me anymore; he was back there, 2000 years ago. "That's when the Pteron's joined the fight. And they hit us harder than we'd ever been hit before. Worlds burned, every ship they saw utterly destroyed. We surrendered in weeks. But the Xaaluu fought on, and humanity was only too happy to extinguish their civilization." Gorvg sighed before continuing, "and then, when they had won, they returned. With ships and doctors and aid and food... to help us rebuild our worlds. The rest of the Galactic Council decided to hide this history from everyone. No one could know that we lived next to monsters. The most destructive, compassionate monsters we'd ever seen. It's a Capital offense, talking about this history, you know." For a 3000 year old veteran, Battle Commander Gorvg's reflexes hadn't slowed at all. Before I had even processed his last sentence, he had drawn and primed two Atomizer pistols. "But I think it's time to remember, young human." He motioned to the closet door, and I noticed footsteps approaching. "There's a trapdoor in there, take the ladder down. You'll find everything you need. Holodisks, holodrives, all the evidence of that old war. Hurry now, I'll hold them long enough for you to get away." The footsteps were closer now. I could hear the voices of the warriors, angry. They wanted blood. I rushed to the trapdoor, threw it open, and started down the ladder. Just before I closed the hatch, I took one last look at the hero. Battle Commander Gorvg of the Pteron people. He was smiling.	Humans are the most dangerous when they know they have nothing to loose. When they know they can't win, they'll devout everything they have to make sure that you don't win either. They prefer mutually assured destruction before surrender. By a wide margin. Never put a human in a corner. All those tidbits of media that escape their bubble before they did showed mostly weak, groveling people, begging for mercy when put against a superior force. That only applied when they where dealing with their own kind. To anyone else, they're basically rabid beasts. Only engage a group of humans when you are absolutely sure you can eradicate them all in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it's a lose/lose scenario. I've learned this the hard way, and it's by the skin off my teeth that I live to tell about it...
[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 have no claimed that we were peaceful." Tobias said, a firm hand grasping the flag of the final human lands, the other curling tight around the hilt of his gun. It had been a long battle. A fight that took the lives of many brothers, fathers, and uncles. "I warned you. I told you that this war was pointless, that we would find a way to break free from you." Tobias jutted a finger in the Gamorians faces. For so long, the Garmorians were once their allies, their brothers in conflict. But that all changed with the underhanded tactics the Garmorians had used - had wielded to enslave the human race the moment an opportunity presented itself. It was just a moment of weakness. A lapsed of judgement on their behalf. They had trusted their friends from afar - the shared understanding. "I told you this - we will never give up." Tobias raised the gun in his hand. "I said that we would fight to the bitter end for our people." The gun weighed a millions tons as Tobias laid the barrel on the temple of his so-called brother. Al-fak, the man he'd thought he'd come to trust, to believe in, merely raised a groggy head, an eye turning over the field of dead filled with his people. "You told me you had no weapons against us." That had been a lie, of course. It was always a lie. Tobias cocked his gun. "A true leader would hide his last resort from invading beings." "A true friend would've been honest from the beginning." Al-fak said. "A 'real' friend, would've chose a different path than this." Tobias fought the whimper of sadness in his tone but failed to. Al-fak could only inhale sharply. He knew he was beaten the moment he'd attacked first. He'd bombed the hell out of the largest country on earth, and when his crew celebrated the fires that had burned, he'd lamented his decision. It had all been a sham from the beginning. From his first descent onto the world, he'd had his orders from the monarch that held his leash. He was to gain their trust, to gain their acceptance and then betray them - turning the planet into their new settlement. He will admit to a falter in his decision. When he'd first met Tobias, his compassion and kindness was a jarring experience that clouded his judgemeny. He'd thought it would be an easy task. A quick task. But he was wrong. The humans had known war better than the Garmorians. They had a better understanding of the cost for it. The pain it brought. The people it sacrificed... "Close your eyes," Tobias said. It was the only kindness he'd allow. Especially with the crowd of soldiers watching him. So, Al-fak did. He'd shut his eyelids tight and murmured his final words to his friend, "I'm sorry."	Humans are the most dangerous when they know they have nothing to loose. When they know they can't win, they'll devout everything they have to make sure that you don't win either. They prefer mutually assured destruction before surrender. By a wide margin. Never put a human in a corner. All those tidbits of media that escape their bubble before they did showed mostly weak, groveling people, begging for mercy when put against a superior force. That only applied when they where dealing with their own kind. To anyone else, they're basically rabid beasts. Only engage a group of humans when you are absolutely sure you can eradicate them all in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it's a lose/lose scenario. I've learned this the hard way, and it's by the skin off my teeth that I live to tell about it...
[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	Log 1.01 - 6462/55 Potential major new biodiversity harvest, Arm 4, stellar coordinates \[classified\]. Approximately 9 million identifiable species, DNA-based. Minor indigenous sapience, no world government, hive mind, or cybernetic control. Not even common language. 1.02 - 6462/56 Received message from imperial satrap, Council of Entities agrees with assessment, harvest of new world moved to top priority, codename Project Windfall. Biodiversity loss on Zor homeworlds considerably graver than generally leaked to non-Council Entities, new harvests to take priority over inorganic material harvests. Changing course to Windfall. 2.01 - 6462/87 Reached Windfall. Harvester ships Ixin, Cath, Roklut expected to arrive by 90-91. Recon drones deployed. 2.02 - 6462/89 Recon drones confirm probe drone. Massive biodiversity lode plus abundant liquid water. No organized opposition. Indigenous sapience in form of tribal/social primates, greater native intelligence than any other non-Zor species yet encountered, rudimentary AI capabilities, but most advanced capabilities used to fight other members of same species. Most advanced weapons are fission type, they hesitate to use them on one another only due to threat of retaliation in kind, but still an impressive accomplishment for a species with no guiding central authority. Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, will set aside additional share of the most bountiful harvest in the last millennium for the Zor if he'll sponsor additional seat on Council of Entities. 2.03 - 6462/92 Harvester ships arrived. Commencing harvest of Windfall. 2.04 - 6462/99 Native primate technology as expected is no match for ours. Multiple ape social colonies ("cities") razed and harvested. Resistance fierce but ineffective. 3.01 - 6462/120 Harvest progressing but slower than expected. Native primates behave in substantially unanticipated ways exposed to new stimuli. No significant trouble expected but we should perhaps pay attention to their social reaction complex as interesting in its own right, not mere biodiversity in a universe in which that always appears to be shrinking. 3.02 - 6462/160 Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, harvest can progress as things stand but additional armed escorts would assist. Native primates ("humans," they call themselves) demonstrate substantial adaptive capabilities, particularly with respect to martial capabilities. As you are aware, our weapons cannot be used by nonmembers of our species due to DNA coding that makes all our weapons cease function if held by an entity not of our species. In less than 50 days, these "humans" came up with the barbarous but effective adaptation of making gloves out of our skins, allowing them to hold our weapons and turn them against us. 3.03 - 6462/161 Humans merit further study after skin-stealing adaptation. Harvested multiple of their soldiers, of various ages, intact. Placed in stasis for further study. 3.04 - 6462/197 Almost all standard harvest protocols for problematic biodiversity surprisingly ineffective with respect to humans. Already considering resorting to Cleanser virus but degradation of the biodiversity haul of Windfall would substantially impair strategic objectives of harvest in the first place. 3.05 - 6462/249 Human population ongoing adaptation proving dangerous. Multiple counteroffensives and countermeasures somehow initiated spontaneously, imitating coordination with no coordinating authority or intelligence. Spontaneous organization of species-wide resistance including against orbital and ecological attacks. Apologies to the Council of Entities, but we cannot leave them alive. Initiating Cleanser virus, programming human DNA as primary target but DNA similarity of human and other biodiversity on this planet means harvest will be dramatically curtailed. 3.06 - 6462/259 - URGENT Cleanser virus largely successful but significant populations of humans remain alive. Moreover, those left alive appear to have sequenced and adapted it to attack us, somehow in the space of ten days. Expeditionary force and harvesters have withdrawn to ships. Will proceed with battle against humans and harvest Windfall with drone tech alone. Analysis at this point is pessimistic; drone tech alone unlikely to prevail given chaotic but frenetic adaptation of human species so far against Cleanser and other rogue biodiversity countermeasures. 4.01 - 6262/272 - URGENT Developing incident in progress in stasis chamber, unscheduled maintenance mode activations, emergency termination sequence malfunctioning. Human soldier prisoners may be loose onboard. 4.02 - 6462/272 - URGENT They are coming. Initiating self destruct. 5.01 - July 3, 2077 - YEAH, PROBABLY STILL URGENT Cool log. Looks like the self-destruct failed though. That kinda sucks. Sucks that we had to use your harvest ships to harvest the remains of most of our own cities, too, but there wasn't much left of them and at least your little flying factories helped us jumpstart our own fleet with all the metal of our old cities. Gotta live somewhere. And the view of Earth from space is still majestic even if y'all fucked it up on the surface. Oh, also, if you're reading this, just FYI ... we're still coming. Got nothing else to do now, and payback's a bitch. Signed, Humanity.	Humans are the most dangerous when they know they have nothing to loose. When they know they can't win, they'll devout everything they have to make sure that you don't win either. They prefer mutually assured destruction before surrender. By a wide margin. Never put a human in a corner. All those tidbits of media that escape their bubble before they did showed mostly weak, groveling people, begging for mercy when put against a superior force. That only applied when they where dealing with their own kind. To anyone else, they're basically rabid beasts. Only engage a group of humans when you are absolutely sure you can eradicate them all in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it's a lose/lose scenario. I've learned this the hard way, and it's by the skin off my teeth that I live to tell about it...
[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	“Examiner, have you reached any conclusions?” The holo-video lit up in the center of the laboratory. The face of Preator Endex filled the void in the center of the room. “Yes. Praetor. The specimen you provided was intact enough to draw a conclusion,” Examiner Zendex replied. “If I may ask, how was such a faultless specimen procured?” “By accident, Examiner.” Zendex could hear the embarrassment in the Preator’s voice. The Klee were notorious for their ability to plan. To have a complete human specimen simply fall into their possession as an act of luck was an insult to the Praetor’s ability to calculate probable outcomes. Still, it was likely that the additional information to be gleaned from studying a full anatomy could very well prove the turning of the war. “I see.” Zendex obfuscated his disapproval outwardly, while in actual fact he was enjoying the Praetor’s discomfort. No less than twelve successors to the current Praetor had all tried to turn the tide of the galactic conflict. Over fifty cycles, and none had succeeded. For all his braggadocio, Praetor Endex had proven equally incapable of mastering the necessary variables to overcome this foe. Not that it wasn’t a complex problem…. “Please, state your conclusion, then propose the underlying premises,” the Praetor encouraged. “Of course,” Zendex paused, wondering if the magnitude of his discoveries would be fully communicated, much less appreciated by the greater Klee protectorate. “The additional information gleaned from this specimen leads to the conclusion that this war will be over in less than two cycles.” The Praetor bared his mandibles in a sign of satisfaction. “Ah, we have it then. What is your margin of error?” The Examiner balked. To ask the question of an Examiner of such high esteem was almost an insult. “Within the ninety ninth percentile, Praetor.” “Then by all means, state your premises.” It was customary in Klee society to state the conclusion of an encounter first, then reveal the necessary background information informing the deduction. To save on the need for pointless interactions, a subordinate would typically accept the conclusions of an Elder. This was given to the Klee’s exceptional ability to calculate probabilities into several dimensions of thinking. To inquire into the basis for a deduction was to show interest, and thus respect, for the proponent of the conclusion. The Praetor was clearly showing great respect for the Examiner’s presentation. Such deference deserved a thorough exhibition. “I direct your attention to the specimen, Praetor.” The lifeless body of the pale human lay limply on the examining table, its various entrails and organs neatly stacked in a small row next to it. “As you can see from the scorian readout, the Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Muscular and Renal systems of these humans are typical of a class four evolutionary primateon species. Other than the digestive systems ability to vacate a surprising number of toxins, these systems are rather unremarkable...” The presentation continued, analyzing each biological strength and weakness in turn. The Praetor patiently listened. The Klee had conquered thousands of species in galactic combat. No race had been able to withstand their superior minds, being able to calculate and adapt to thousands of permutations and possible outcomes. And so it was supposed to be a simple conquest of this backward human world. Their superior numbers and technology obvious, the Klee had offered the humans a dignified surrender almost simultaneously with their invasion. The Klee war counsel had noted that the humans preferred to rely on diplomacy, which loosely translated basically meant mutual surrender, with neither side a victor. Words were a decent enough tool to fend off aggression in some cases. But without the might to back up those words … the Klee knew better. Despite its 1,000 years of peace with its neighbors, the Klee knew that no diplomacy would be enough to prevent Earth’s capture. At least, they thought they knew. Despite the analytical approach to the invasion, this unremarkable species had left cataclysmic destruction in its wake. Generally, an intergalactic war took one, maybe two cycles to conclude, especially when victory from one side or the other was all but assured. Once both sides concluded that victory was inevitable, a ceremonial surrender was typical. But the current conflict had lasted over fifty cycles, and the waste of resources had nearly drained the empire into insolvency. It wouldn’t be long until the outer systems calculated weakness… These humans did not conform to any known parameters. In most conflicts, multiple circumstances could be calculated, reevaluated, predicted. But not humans. In one iteration, humans would behave conservatively, almost to a fault. Giving ground even when obvious advantages could clearly be seized. In other encounters, they displayed a recklessness and ferocity known only among the unevolved. Fifty cycles later and they were just as impossible to predict as the day the Klee invaded Earth. The Earth invasion was a disaster by any tactical standard. It had been studied, reanalyzed, reinterpreted. But no solid conclusions could be reached. Upon landfall, the humans initially reacted as any other class four primateon. Family units hiding in fear. Communications disrupted. Military responses disorganized. And then, as if signaled by a Praetorean elite, something changed. The humans responded with the ferociousness and recklessness of an unevolved reptile or arachnid. Forces were marshaled imperfectly, but effectively. Counter offensives with no seeming probability of victory nevertheless succeeded. And once some Klee technology was in the hands of the enemy, the situation went all downsystem. Native humans with no military training whatsoever were taking up munitions and retaliating with no regard to their own existence. Elite human units advanced TOWARD certain death. By the time the provisional government envoy arrived to impose judicial order, the humans had routed all 36 expeditionary squads, including the capital ships. How in the nexus they even got up to the fleet centers remains a mystery, as human technology simply wasn’t advanced past placing geosynchronous communicators in their own orbit. To add insult, the humans used the captured fleet to commandeer the undefended bureaucratic envoy just after its arrival. And then? Then they repurposed the envoy to proclaim victory, making the Klee administrative apparatus assume the planet was in conquered status. It wasn’t until a whole cycle had passed until the Klee elite had noticed there wasn’t any tribute. But by then it was too late. The humans had adapted to the technology quickly. Not just to seize and use it, but also perverting Klee technology to suit their own destructive ends. From there, forty-nine cycles of interstellar destruction and chaos across entire systems. Unlike other space-faring species, the humans seem to have no respect for cosmic order. It is as if they must repurpose the universe itself to match their fleeting lifespan. They damage anything in their path to achieve even minor victories. Anger toward a conqueror was to be expected. But the patterns appeared to demonstrate a malice toward the Klee that could not have been predicted from an evolved species. Using space folding technology, they used a Klee warp engine to fold out the orbit of a key military installation, shifting it into the path of a black hole, and damaging the habitability of three separate colonies. They strapped fusion reactors onto refueling pylons and sent them back into the prime nexus, haphazardly destroying or crippling thirteen production outposts. In one engagement, a system neighboring a production facility with no military value was completely destroyed, a seemingly pointless act. But worst of all, in every encounter their soldiers and pilots show no regard whatsoever for their own personal safety, at times letting loose fission and fusion weapons of their own design, which spread fallout throughout half the Klee protectorate. It has made the end of the conflict nearly impossible to manage.	Humans are the most dangerous when they know they have nothing to loose. When they know they can't win, they'll devout everything they have to make sure that you don't win either. They prefer mutually assured destruction before surrender. By a wide margin. Never put a human in a corner. All those tidbits of media that escape their bubble before they did showed mostly weak, groveling people, begging for mercy when put against a superior force. That only applied when they where dealing with their own kind. To anyone else, they're basically rabid beasts. Only engage a group of humans when you are absolutely sure you can eradicate them all in one fell swoop. Otherwise, it's a lose/lose scenario. I've learned this the hard way, and it's by the skin off my teeth that I live to tell about it...
[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 red light was blinking, indicating the failure of the shields, but the commander Ze’hyl could not be bothered. He was franticly looking through the data as the predictions of AI clearly did not match the reality, not anymore... It was his failure! He recommended the invasion of the Sol system. The home star of those gutless humans. \- How did it come to this?.. Decades of planning and analysis. These humans who would rather take the short end of a stick than show some spine. These… mammals who only know of negotiations, diplomacy, and compromise. Not a single interstellar conflict yet alone war since they joined the League. How are they doing this? It all went so well until we reached that small blue rock… The angry ichodrian drifted in thought as he was gazing upon the holographic display depicting the Sol system. \- Commendable effort for a race of a peace loving peons, it brought them some time but what of it or so I thought… Where all those ships, where all those troops came from? It cannot be technology, why would you lose so many positions if you had the means to defend them in the first place… Once again, he opened the human response to the declaration of war. The words sounded different from what he heard the first time. \- We hoped we could keep these doors closed forever. But now God help us all. As his mind was running through various scenarios, his eyes picked up on a small cloud of debris orbiting the sun in between the human home world and Venus. A strange thought formed in his head. \- What if, what if that cloud used to be a planet?... He updated the conditions for the AI and was met with despair. The predictions finally made sense and all it took was to name the cloud in between Venus and Mars a planet…	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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	"Emperor, High Chancellor of Earth on Luma link to you", an advisor notified Emperor Gaumph. "Link up." The emperor replied. Holo visage of an elderly human sitting behind a desk materialized in the middle of the throne room. "I presume this is about your mutual defense treaty with Lakilla?" The emperor asked the apparition. "Yes. You shall withdraw all your forces immediately, or there will be dire consequences." The emperor laughed. "Two puny defenseless races without so much as an army in a mutual defense treaty. What a joke. What are you going to do? Establish embargo on Coca-Cola? It's a popular drink among our people but our supplies will last until Earth is conquered and we'll have it without tariffs." "We will destroy your cities, stations, colonies and capital ships one by one, until you surrender or until your successor surrenders." "You and what army?" "I think you're not treating our threat seriously, so let me demonstrate our capacity." High Counsellor tapped something on the desk in front of him. Surely a map in holo; you can't visualize a holo in another holo so it wasn't visible. One of advisors sprung to alert. "Emperor, I just got a report, Acordia just exploded." "The capital ship?! How?! Raise shields on all ships and planets now!" "The signature is antimatter, about a kilogram worth of antimatter annihilated, the ship was literally wiped out!" "Ah, so a hyperspace torpedo. They caught us unaware, but now with shields up they can fire away. Every object of importance is protected." Chancellor tapped some other spot. Another advisor jumped up. "Emperor, the army colony of Maruja is gone!" "Did they fail to raise the shield?" "No, Emperor! The shield is still up, and filled with inferno left after an anti-matter explosion!" "Attack! Send the armada to Earth! Destroy them before they destroy more of our resources!" The chancellor shook his head. "I was afraid it would come to this. Let us hope your second-in-command is more reasonable." He tapped a spot on his desk. A Coca-Cola dispenser machine in the lobby of the Imperial Palace made a quiet ding. Then the palace and the emperor ceased to exist in an antimatter explosion.	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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	"Well, we knew the humans had a military. They had to, you see. The worlds they were colonizing were dangerous, lots of life forms that want nothing but to kill..." the old soldier trailed off, lost in his memories. "I understand sir, but..." I didn't want to be rude. Battle Commander Gorvg was a hero to the Pteron people, and one of the last to ever face a human in battle. So he was the perfect subject for my research. "Can we talk about what led to the war?" "I'm getting there, lots of background to cover. So anyway, they had a military, but they'd never used it. They were great talkers, could talk all 12 ears off a Nfalu! And so privately, a lot of species wanted to test the mettle of humanity. Had to find out if they could really make it in the universe." I glanced at the recorder. 2.5 hours already, and we hadn't even gotten to the fighting yet. "And then the Xaaluu decided they'd be the first." I laughed. "I'm sorry sir, the Xaaluu weren't around 2000 years ago. They died well before humans were discovered." Battle Commander Gorvg glared at me, his one good eye cold as ice. "You so readily believe your history books. The Xaaluu sent a Capital Battle Group to attack a new colony. 5 Capital ships, humans called them "Battleships", stupid name, all ships are battle ships. 10 Intermediate ships, and 20 Support ships per group." "Sir," I interjected. "Do you know what the humans called the other ships? Just for the record." "Cruisers and Destroyers, respectively. Good question, young one." He leaned back in his seat before continuing. "The colony had 2 'Heavy Frigates' for defense and carrying troops. Completely outclassed by the Xaaluu laser weaponry." "I can't imagine the fight lasted long, Sir." "No... it didn't. What no one realized was that the humans still fired metallic projectiles and had perfected energy shielding. And they had lots of guns on those ships. Those two ships put out more firepower in 5 minutes than the entire Xaaluu Battle Group could put out in a week." My notebook hit the floor. "We saw the scans. It took 5 minutes for those ships to kill a Capital Battle Group. And the humans didn't stop there. They sent their fleets, yes! Multiple fleets! Into Xaaluu space. We had never seen such destruction, such death." Gorvg's eye had glazed over, he wasn't in the room with me anymore; he was back there, 2000 years ago. "That's when the Pteron's joined the fight. And they hit us harder than we'd ever been hit before. Worlds burned, every ship they saw utterly destroyed. We surrendered in weeks. But the Xaaluu fought on, and humanity was only too happy to extinguish their civilization." Gorvg sighed before continuing, "and then, when they had won, they returned. With ships and doctors and aid and food... to help us rebuild our worlds. The rest of the Galactic Council decided to hide this history from everyone. No one could know that we lived next to monsters. The most destructive, compassionate monsters we'd ever seen. It's a Capital offense, talking about this history, you know." For a 3000 year old veteran, Battle Commander Gorvg's reflexes hadn't slowed at all. Before I had even processed his last sentence, he had drawn and primed two Atomizer pistols. "But I think it's time to remember, young human." He motioned to the closet door, and I noticed footsteps approaching. "There's a trapdoor in there, take the ladder down. You'll find everything you need. Holodisks, holodrives, all the evidence of that old war. Hurry now, I'll hold them long enough for you to get away." The footsteps were closer now. I could hear the voices of the warriors, angry. They wanted blood. I rushed to the trapdoor, threw it open, and started down the ladder. Just before I closed the hatch, I took one last look at the hero. Battle Commander Gorvg of the Pteron people. He was smiling.	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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 thought that we knew what we were doing. They had barely made it to their own moon before we had arrived and we had an armada. The had nuclear weapons and we laughed as we ate their bombs, inhaling the radiation like they did with helium. When we arrived they had greeted us like gods, crowds of worshipers and cameras. They had their army ready but they certainly didn’t look special. We had laser guns that could leave nothing but red and green bones behind, they still used gunpowder. So we shot a birdie that apparently had ment peace, a laughable concept, and slaughtered the gathering. And even after that they had tried to negotiate peace! To give credit where it’s due, it was impressive to see them build a translator for our language that has so many subtleties in both pitch and tone. But still it was amusing to destroy their monuments and to see them flee as we had our way with their world. We didn’t realize however, the power of voice. Humans are capable of reaching pitches so high that they can shatter glass and even the resonant frequency of our brains. When this was discovered we swiftly found ourselves on the back foot. No Martian left on that rock was given quarter and even now they reverse engineer our ships and hunt us down. All the while they play that hunting song known as yodeling. I hear them now faintly through the door, the music would be beautiful if I didn’t feel my brain ripple even from here. So I leave this in memory of my species, should the humans see this know I hate you and that we should have blown up your planet when we had the chance. Should others see this I leave you some parting words: ACK ACKACK ACk ACK ACK!!!	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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 have no claimed that we were peaceful." Tobias said, a firm hand grasping the flag of the final human lands, the other curling tight around the hilt of his gun. It had been a long battle. A fight that took the lives of many brothers, fathers, and uncles. "I warned you. I told you that this war was pointless, that we would find a way to break free from you." Tobias jutted a finger in the Gamorians faces. For so long, the Garmorians were once their allies, their brothers in conflict. But that all changed with the underhanded tactics the Garmorians had used - had wielded to enslave the human race the moment an opportunity presented itself. It was just a moment of weakness. A lapsed of judgement on their behalf. They had trusted their friends from afar - the shared understanding. "I told you this - we will never give up." Tobias raised the gun in his hand. "I said that we would fight to the bitter end for our people." The gun weighed a millions tons as Tobias laid the barrel on the temple of his so-called brother. Al-fak, the man he'd thought he'd come to trust, to believe in, merely raised a groggy head, an eye turning over the field of dead filled with his people. "You told me you had no weapons against us." That had been a lie, of course. It was always a lie. Tobias cocked his gun. "A true leader would hide his last resort from invading beings." "A true friend would've been honest from the beginning." Al-fak said. "A 'real' friend, would've chose a different path than this." Tobias fought the whimper of sadness in his tone but failed to. Al-fak could only inhale sharply. He knew he was beaten the moment he'd attacked first. He'd bombed the hell out of the largest country on earth, and when his crew celebrated the fires that had burned, he'd lamented his decision. It had all been a sham from the beginning. From his first descent onto the world, he'd had his orders from the monarch that held his leash. He was to gain their trust, to gain their acceptance and then betray them - turning the planet into their new settlement. He will admit to a falter in his decision. When he'd first met Tobias, his compassion and kindness was a jarring experience that clouded his judgemeny. He'd thought it would be an easy task. A quick task. But he was wrong. The humans had known war better than the Garmorians. They had a better understanding of the cost for it. The pain it brought. The people it sacrificed... "Close your eyes," Tobias said. It was the only kindness he'd allow. Especially with the crowd of soldiers watching him. So, Al-fak did. He'd shut his eyelids tight and murmured his final words to his friend, "I'm sorry."	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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	In the year 2100, humanity finally achieved global peace. It was not an easy task. It took several wars, hundreds of crisises, 20 billion deaths and climate change but eventually the remaining humans learned to coexist peacefully. The 22nd century was seen as the greatest golden age in human history, a century of prosperity and development for all of humanity undivided by race, gender, or geography. It was also this century that saw humanity emerge as a multiplanatory species. Colonizing Mars, Pluto and everything in between. The next four centuries saw further expansion of the human race and by the time the Universal sentient Council found out about them, their numbers were in the hundreds of trillions and they had an entire galaxy to call as their own. This meant that when they joined the council, they were already high in the pecking order as many other species were much smaller in power and numbers alike. However, there were still more than a dozen species that could entirely decimate the humans and a handful who were their equals. The Council had existed for nearly 3000 years, yet they had never seen a race like the humans. They were wary of humans at first, but soon learned that these were some of the most pacifist creatures in the universe. Not only did they never have internal conflicts which even the strongest species were prone to, but their skill in statecraft, politics and diplomacy meant they never had to take to the battlefield. In 500 years, humans had grown quite a bit in stature and importance in the council. So much so that they could prevent a war between the junior races merely by their words. Yet for all their glory, they had also earned the disdain of others. Some species knew only war. They saw the reluctance of humans to take up arms not as an admirable trait, but a sign of weakness. The top three species, the Andromeins, the Saxofys, and the Yurnkilians were not happy to lose their influence to the upjumped humans. They had fighting constantly for power and influence in the council for millennium, often making the other species fight proxy wars on their behalf. It was why they kept expanding the council, to have more species to influence. They were three rival factions, and it was a known fact that you had to join one of them or you ended up earning their enmity. Apparently the humans never learned that. They were making their own faction now. Emerging as a fourth side in this power struggle and more and more species were now following their lead. It was frustrating and made the Three Great Species as they were often called, angry as hell. They decided to do something they had never done in their milenium long history, they formed an alliance. Each one was strong enough to destroy the humans on their own, but together, the whole thing would take no longer than a week. And so it was. On 4th June, 3019 AD, the Milky Way was invaded for the first time. The advanced warships made quick work of the defenses and the frontiers of the galaxy fell within a day. The humans did not resort to diplomacy this time. They did not even attend the council meetings from that day forth. Simply sending a message: you have made your last mistake. These words would be proven true in a mere week. For that is exactly how long it took for the Great Species to learn the truth of humanity. They had not fought a war in nearly a millennium, and thus had restrained bloodlust running through their veins. When war broke out, every single human, rich or poor, young or old, boy or girl, earthling or a colonist, EVERYONE decided to fight. The entire economy was turned into a war time one. Ordinary civilians had their food rationed to ensure supplies for soldiers and all of their income except an allowance for the basic necessities was paid as taxes for the war effort. All the industries were now producing good for the war effort and billions were sent as foot soldiers. The efficiency of humans had long been praised throughout the known universe but now it was cranked up to 11. Production of all sorts of goods seemed to double overnight and soldiers were given a year's worth of training in 4 months. The entire human race now had only one purpose to their existence, this war. It was frightening the lengths they went to. No bar was too low, no method too barbaric. They sent millions of spies, assassins and sleeper cells alike. All sowing chaos in the enemy ranks and causing deaths left right and center, mostly their own. There were many intergalaxy criminal gangs across the universe and the humans seemingly created triple as many every week. Their science advanced at a thunderous pace, coming up with new designs for everything from handguns to spaceships, to missiles and the like on almost a daily basis. The advantage the Three Great Species held in this conflict quickly disappeared and as the war stalled, they felt the pressure as their own people protested against the unnecessary violence. Ultimately the war lasted a full decade. A violent decade that saw the extermination of one race, the death of hundred of trillions, the extinction of entire planets and galaxies and suffering untold. On the 4th of June, 3029 AD, with the treaty of Jaipur, did the war finally come to an end, and the world learned an important lesson. NEVER MESS WITH HUMANS.	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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 universe exists in the middle of an explosion. Billions of stars burn and then shed their matter across the void as they burn out. Our species developed from that matter to rule. We clawed our way out of our gravity well and fought any other species that dared to join us in space. Until we came across humans. They are tiny compared to us. Fragile. Insignificant. They cannot bear the energy of stars without protection, even on their world. The void crushes them outside their gravity well, so they developed shelters to explore from. We tore those shelters to pieces before we even recognized what they were. They struck back using matter, which we ignored. They struck back using energy, which annoyed us. Then they struck back using stars. How did such insignificant things harness the power of stars? Somehow they can create them at will. We lost an entire colony in their system before we realized what had happened. Then the war began in earnest. We had fought all others into submission yet could not stop humans. They were too small. Kill one, and a million come next. They breed faster than any other thinking creatures we have found and can live on useless scraps of matter. They fear nothing. We thought to keep them isolated in their system, but an infestation of them hid on our ship until it reached our home. They exploited our infrastructure and used what they could steal to sustain their colony. In that short time, their numbers grew exponentially, and they learned our ways. Once we arrived home, they used that knowledge to ignite suns all over the system to damaging effect. My homeworld is completely overrun now. No one can help me. I write this last message as my orbit decays into the sun. Do not fight humans. They are war.	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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 Terrans had built Universities, hospitals, revolutionized inter-stellar commerce. They worked as ambassadors to negotiate peace and trade deals amongst the galactic community. Their few colonies built on out of the way unhospitable worlds. Their fleet was made of trade vessels, science ships, and pleasure yachts. They had a reputation as bringers of peace, knowledge, and healing. Then came the Garanzan incident. The Garanzan we new to the interstellar community, warlike, domineering, and powerful. Their armada outnumbered the combined forces of the allied races, they conquered whole worlds in a matter of days. When the Garanzan entered Melcap space the Melcap reached out Humanity to help negotiate a peace settlement. The Terrans send their premier ambassador to an arranged peace conference hosted by the Melcap. The entire Garanzan fleet showed up to the appointed meeting station and murdered the Melcap and Terran diplomats and broadcast the gruesome killings across known space. Three days later another Terran ambassador was dispatched to to the Garanzan home world with a single message. "Cease all hostilities at once or the United Terran Forces will declare war on the Garanzan." The Garanzan's sent back his head as a declaration of war. The Garanzan turned their fleets from the Melcap and attacked all known Terran colonies. For six months the Garanzan attacked and butchered humans ill equipped to fight against such military might. But even those fights became brutal battles against insurgencies, suicide attacks, and desperate counter attacks all meant to buy time. While the Allied races stood by and watched they knew Humanities time on the intergalactic stage was up. The Garanzan were too powerful, too numerous, and too blood thirsty to be stopped. Then came Terran Armada. After half of year of holding actions and watching their people die humanity struck back. The Garanzan were assaulting the human space platform Excalibur, a human outpost built for the Alliance to foster learning, trade and diplomacy. The station was a bastion of learning, commerce, and the best hospital in known space. Excalibur station was a massive installation of over one hundred thousand humans. The Garanzan saw the station as a monument to Terran weakness. General Gaulfluax recounts that day; "I ordered targeting on the facilities power generators to bring down their pitiful shields and allow our boarding craft to send reavers onto the station." "I had lead the campaign on the Ceti 4 colony and knew there would be heavy if ineffectual resistance. The humans were inventive and tenacious, but no match for reavers in full battle armor. I wanted to take the station as intact as possible to plunder it's technology. Humans were weak but their technology was far ahead of ours in terms of medicine and science." "Just as the shields faltered and I ordered the attack craft away a massive energy surge was reported above my fleet. A full Terran battle group emerged from space fold in perfect attack formation. You laugh now, but we had no clue then what we were up against." "Admiral McMullen opened hail to my ship and delivered an ultimatum. 'Surrender now or face destruction, you have 3 minutes' and signed off. I laughed, what could a single battle group do against my entire fleet. I stopped laughing after our assault craft were blown out of stars." "Have you every seen a Saturn Knight tear an assault craft apart? They use quantum energy blasts to take down our shields and then just rip the ships apart with their lances. And they can deploy dozens of them, each so small you can't see them on the scopes, I don't know how they do it." "Worse is the main cannon's on their assault ships, an energy beam a mile wide and ten miles long that annihilates anything in it's path. My fleet was torn to shreds after the first volley. To think all it took was six months to build such powerful weapons." General Gaulflaux surrendered after seven and a half minutes of combat. His fleet lost ninety percent of it's ships. The Terran vessels suffered zero losses. After the formal declaration of war Humanity reconstituted it's naval academy and repurposed and expanded the Mars foundries into an orbital ship yard capable of producing the massive warship in under a month. Marines were dispatched to colony worlds knowing they'd never return home to hold back the tides and buy humanity the time it needed to build a fleet capable of taking down the Garanzan. It happened all across the Garanzan empire. Terran battle groups would spacefold into attack position, demand surrender and open fire if no response was given. The Terran war machine turned out ships and crews at such a rate that their enemies were out numbered in just over two years of war. Terran Ambassadors now travel on small naval warships and are flanked at diplomatic events by Saturn Knights. The Terran Armada provides security across a thousand systems. And the Garanzan, they are slowly rebuilding their society with the assistance of the Terran Peace Corp.	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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	"One Earthling, diplomat. How can you justify this madness on account of one sole Earthling?" The human stretched its angular limbs and considered the battlefield. Outside the star vessel lay our fleet. In ruins. I could see soldiers floating in the void of space, frozen solid as rock, all with the same expression on their faces: pure horror. "Don't say we didn't warn you, Xehemultran." Humans had domesticated themselves, turned themselves into pets; it was common knowledge. That was why they did not want to participate in galactic conflicts, that was why they were considered the ultimate neutral species. Diplomacy and trifles, words and empty gestures. Everyone knew humans did not fight. So how could this have happened? "This is sheer insanity. You have murdered billions. You have eradicated entire civilizations." "Yup." The human fidgeted with a finger inside its mouth, cleaning out some gunk. "All of this for Bella? Do you consider this destruction to be worth it?" "Oh, absolutely." I shook my heads. "She was not even a human." "Correct," said the Earthling. He pointed his weapon at me. "She was a cat." Expressionless, the human pulled the trigger.	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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	Log 1.01 - 6462/55 Potential major new biodiversity harvest, Arm 4, stellar coordinates \[classified\]. Approximately 9 million identifiable species, DNA-based. Minor indigenous sapience, no world government, hive mind, or cybernetic control. Not even common language. 1.02 - 6462/56 Received message from imperial satrap, Council of Entities agrees with assessment, harvest of new world moved to top priority, codename Project Windfall. Biodiversity loss on Zor homeworlds considerably graver than generally leaked to non-Council Entities, new harvests to take priority over inorganic material harvests. Changing course to Windfall. 2.01 - 6462/87 Reached Windfall. Harvester ships Ixin, Cath, Roklut expected to arrive by 90-91. Recon drones deployed. 2.02 - 6462/89 Recon drones confirm probe drone. Massive biodiversity lode plus abundant liquid water. No organized opposition. Indigenous sapience in form of tribal/social primates, greater native intelligence than any other non-Zor species yet encountered, rudimentary AI capabilities, but most advanced capabilities used to fight other members of same species. Most advanced weapons are fission type, they hesitate to use them on one another only due to threat of retaliation in kind, but still an impressive accomplishment for a species with no guiding central authority. Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, will set aside additional share of the most bountiful harvest in the last millennium for the Zor if he'll sponsor additional seat on Council of Entities. 2.03 - 6462/92 Harvester ships arrived. Commencing harvest of Windfall. 2.04 - 6462/99 Native primate technology as expected is no match for ours. Multiple ape social colonies ("cities") razed and harvested. Resistance fierce but ineffective. 3.01 - 6462/120 Harvest progressing but slower than expected. Native primates behave in substantially unanticipated ways exposed to new stimuli. No significant trouble expected but we should perhaps pay attention to their social reaction complex as interesting in its own right, not mere biodiversity in a universe in which that always appears to be shrinking. 3.02 - 6462/160 Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, harvest can progress as things stand but additional armed escorts would assist. Native primates ("humans," they call themselves) demonstrate substantial adaptive capabilities, particularly with respect to martial capabilities. As you are aware, our weapons cannot be used by nonmembers of our species due to DNA coding that makes all our weapons cease function if held by an entity not of our species. In less than 50 days, these "humans" came up with the barbarous but effective adaptation of making gloves out of our skins, allowing them to hold our weapons and turn them against us. 3.03 - 6462/161 Humans merit further study after skin-stealing adaptation. Harvested multiple of their soldiers, of various ages, intact. Placed in stasis for further study. 3.04 - 6462/197 Almost all standard harvest protocols for problematic biodiversity surprisingly ineffective with respect to humans. Already considering resorting to Cleanser virus but degradation of the biodiversity haul of Windfall would substantially impair strategic objectives of harvest in the first place. 3.05 - 6462/249 Human population ongoing adaptation proving dangerous. Multiple counteroffensives and countermeasures somehow initiated spontaneously, imitating coordination with no coordinating authority or intelligence. Spontaneous organization of species-wide resistance including against orbital and ecological attacks. Apologies to the Council of Entities, but we cannot leave them alive. Initiating Cleanser virus, programming human DNA as primary target but DNA similarity of human and other biodiversity on this planet means harvest will be dramatically curtailed. 3.06 - 6462/259 - URGENT Cleanser virus largely successful but significant populations of humans remain alive. Moreover, those left alive appear to have sequenced and adapted it to attack us, somehow in the space of ten days. Expeditionary force and harvesters have withdrawn to ships. Will proceed with battle against humans and harvest Windfall with drone tech alone. Analysis at this point is pessimistic; drone tech alone unlikely to prevail given chaotic but frenetic adaptation of human species so far against Cleanser and other rogue biodiversity countermeasures. 4.01 - 6262/272 - URGENT Developing incident in progress in stasis chamber, unscheduled maintenance mode activations, emergency termination sequence malfunctioning. Human soldier prisoners may be loose onboard. 4.02 - 6462/272 - URGENT They are coming. Initiating self destruct. 5.01 - July 3, 2077 - YEAH, PROBABLY STILL URGENT Cool log. Looks like the self-destruct failed though. That kinda sucks. Sucks that we had to use your harvest ships to harvest the remains of most of our own cities, too, but there wasn't much left of them and at least your little flying factories helped us jumpstart our own fleet with all the metal of our old cities. Gotta live somewhere. And the view of Earth from space is still majestic even if y'all fucked it up on the surface. Oh, also, if you're reading this, just FYI ... we're still coming. Got nothing else to do now, and payback's a bitch. Signed, Humanity.	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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 still remember the look on Ambassador Ford’s (Betelgeusean Republic’s representative to the former Galactic Councils 300 BT – 5 TA) face when I informed him we had declared war on the pathetic Humans of the Terran Federation. His blue blood drained from his face, leaving a dirty yellow visage which had previously shone a healthy green. The only thing he said was ‘What have you done?’ which I thought wwas just due to Betelgeusean fondness for the cowardly pacifistic species. If only we had known the truth…” – Gragtun’iik’iill, Former Krillnean Ambassador to the Galactic Councils 89 BT – 7 BT Warfare has changed very little since the first slightly complex multicellular organisms began banding together to fight one another over limited resources. The equation generally comes down to who can out produce the other in manpower, supplies, or weapons. For as terrifying and powerful a new weapon system may be, it can still be outclassed by sheer volume. At the dawn of the Terran Alliance, a heavily modified version of this calculation was in use to determine the general effectiveness of galactic empires. The weapon system of the day, as for most navies throughout history, was the battleship. Advanced civilizations, such as The Betelgeusean Republic, were capable of building, crewing, and launching these behemoths in only 50 cycles. In 10 BT the rising Krillnean Empire felt that their armada, while small on the galactic scale, would be well equipped to destroy the peace loving, ever negotiating, Terran Federation. Afterall Terra had only 20 battleships in service, and had not completed a new such vessel in over 150 cycles. Krillnea was able to produce a vessel in as few as 80 cycles, and had a standing navy of over 500 ships. Additionally, due to the sensitive and specialized nature of the systems on board a starship, let alone a warship, a certain level of training and experience was required. This training and practical experience was extremely costly, and could take dozens of cycles for a Human to acquire, but for the long-lived children of the Krillnean Hives, born to carry out specific tasks, it was simple. The game of numbers, it seemed, was decided. As war commenced, the humans fought bravely to defend their colonies, but the numbers were against them. The Terran Fleet was destroyed in combat around Proxima Centauri, and colonies fell one after another. The Krillnean Armada advanced methodically, but sustained a far higher rate of losses than initially expected, which while concerning, was overshadowed by the rapid advance to the Human’s home system of Sol. The Battle of Sol (7 BT) was a turning point in the evolution of warfare. Standard practice had been to harvest asteroid, moons, rocky planetoids, and anything available for raw materials to process into Space Ship components. This took time, capital, and abundant resources. With the main Terran shipyards destroyed, and with access to her colonies cut off, the Terran Federation appeared to be teetering on extinction. What the Krillnean armada encountered upon entering the Sol system was not a scrambling mass of scared civilians, but a star system that had been entirely strip mined, and a brand new, incredibly massive fleet of “Warships” waiting for them. The Sol system had always been considered somewhat of an anomaly. It had not one but two asteroid belts surrounding it, one of which harbored several larger planetoids. While these raw materials would have been a boon to most industries, the density of the belts in Sol made harvesting these resources a very laborious and risky endeavor. Even then, those resources would need to be refined methodically, and carefully to ensure no errant debris might strike a vessel or colony, and standard practice was to dump the empty husks of these asteroids into the nearest star, where it may safely be consumed. The Terran Federation had several larger asteroids in stable orbits near their home planet of Earth, most were completely devoid of usable material and were merely awaiting their turn to be sent sunward. For Humanity they became salvation. Instead of building a warship from scratch, Terran engineers crawled over these husks, fitting them with reactors, weapons systems, thrusters, and crude life support systems. When manpower turned out to be lacking, regular civilians pitched in to help, many of them having never performed a spacewalk or heavy construction previously. In total, over 600 such “vessels” were created over the span of a single cycle. Numerous other smaller asteroids were converted into unguided missiles, whose mass proved so effective at defeating point defense and shield systems that they are still in use today. The Krillnean armada of 573 ships and 6-8 million souls was entirely obliterated. While not particularly agile or comfortable, the extremely basic nature of the human warships allowed them to survive attacks from the latest weapons systems, usually with little to no adverse effects. In fact, during the Battle of Sol, the total Terran losses were 237,000 personnel across 7 ships destroyed, and 13 damaged. The Battle of Sol set the stage for the fall of the Galactic Council. As the Terran Federation reestablished control of her colonies and continued the fight towards the Krillnean home worlds, they continued to refine, improve, and produce their new class of vessels. Long since superseded by newer classes of warship, the Nemesis class battleships are still the most decorated vessels in the history of the Terran Alliance. The Nemesis, first of her class, is still in use today and has the honor of being not only the ship which fired the first shot at the Battle of Sol, but also the vessel which destroyed the last enemy ship during the War of Unification between the Terran Federation and the Galactic Councils.	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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	“Examiner, have you reached any conclusions?” The holo-video lit up in the center of the laboratory. The face of Preator Endex filled the void in the center of the room. “Yes. Praetor. The specimen you provided was intact enough to draw a conclusion,” Examiner Zendex replied. “If I may ask, how was such a faultless specimen procured?” “By accident, Examiner.” Zendex could hear the embarrassment in the Preator’s voice. The Klee were notorious for their ability to plan. To have a complete human specimen simply fall into their possession as an act of luck was an insult to the Praetor’s ability to calculate probable outcomes. Still, it was likely that the additional information to be gleaned from studying a full anatomy could very well prove the turning of the war. “I see.” Zendex obfuscated his disapproval outwardly, while in actual fact he was enjoying the Praetor’s discomfort. No less than twelve successors to the current Praetor had all tried to turn the tide of the galactic conflict. Over fifty cycles, and none had succeeded. For all his braggadocio, Praetor Endex had proven equally incapable of mastering the necessary variables to overcome this foe. Not that it wasn’t a complex problem…. “Please, state your conclusion, then propose the underlying premises,” the Praetor encouraged. “Of course,” Zendex paused, wondering if the magnitude of his discoveries would be fully communicated, much less appreciated by the greater Klee protectorate. “The additional information gleaned from this specimen leads to the conclusion that this war will be over in less than two cycles.” The Praetor bared his mandibles in a sign of satisfaction. “Ah, we have it then. What is your margin of error?” The Examiner balked. To ask the question of an Examiner of such high esteem was almost an insult. “Within the ninety ninth percentile, Praetor.” “Then by all means, state your premises.” It was customary in Klee society to state the conclusion of an encounter first, then reveal the necessary background information informing the deduction. To save on the need for pointless interactions, a subordinate would typically accept the conclusions of an Elder. This was given to the Klee’s exceptional ability to calculate probabilities into several dimensions of thinking. To inquire into the basis for a deduction was to show interest, and thus respect, for the proponent of the conclusion. The Praetor was clearly showing great respect for the Examiner’s presentation. Such deference deserved a thorough exhibition. “I direct your attention to the specimen, Praetor.” The lifeless body of the pale human lay limply on the examining table, its various entrails and organs neatly stacked in a small row next to it. “As you can see from the scorian readout, the Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Muscular and Renal systems of these humans are typical of a class four evolutionary primateon species. Other than the digestive systems ability to vacate a surprising number of toxins, these systems are rather unremarkable...” The presentation continued, analyzing each biological strength and weakness in turn. The Praetor patiently listened. The Klee had conquered thousands of species in galactic combat. No race had been able to withstand their superior minds, being able to calculate and adapt to thousands of permutations and possible outcomes. And so it was supposed to be a simple conquest of this backward human world. Their superior numbers and technology obvious, the Klee had offered the humans a dignified surrender almost simultaneously with their invasion. The Klee war counsel had noted that the humans preferred to rely on diplomacy, which loosely translated basically meant mutual surrender, with neither side a victor. Words were a decent enough tool to fend off aggression in some cases. But without the might to back up those words … the Klee knew better. Despite its 1,000 years of peace with its neighbors, the Klee knew that no diplomacy would be enough to prevent Earth’s capture. At least, they thought they knew. Despite the analytical approach to the invasion, this unremarkable species had left cataclysmic destruction in its wake. Generally, an intergalactic war took one, maybe two cycles to conclude, especially when victory from one side or the other was all but assured. Once both sides concluded that victory was inevitable, a ceremonial surrender was typical. But the current conflict had lasted over fifty cycles, and the waste of resources had nearly drained the empire into insolvency. It wouldn’t be long until the outer systems calculated weakness… These humans did not conform to any known parameters. In most conflicts, multiple circumstances could be calculated, reevaluated, predicted. But not humans. In one iteration, humans would behave conservatively, almost to a fault. Giving ground even when obvious advantages could clearly be seized. In other encounters, they displayed a recklessness and ferocity known only among the unevolved. Fifty cycles later and they were just as impossible to predict as the day the Klee invaded Earth. The Earth invasion was a disaster by any tactical standard. It had been studied, reanalyzed, reinterpreted. But no solid conclusions could be reached. Upon landfall, the humans initially reacted as any other class four primateon. Family units hiding in fear. Communications disrupted. Military responses disorganized. And then, as if signaled by a Praetorean elite, something changed. The humans responded with the ferociousness and recklessness of an unevolved reptile or arachnid. Forces were marshaled imperfectly, but effectively. Counter offensives with no seeming probability of victory nevertheless succeeded. And once some Klee technology was in the hands of the enemy, the situation went all downsystem. Native humans with no military training whatsoever were taking up munitions and retaliating with no regard to their own existence. Elite human units advanced TOWARD certain death. By the time the provisional government envoy arrived to impose judicial order, the humans had routed all 36 expeditionary squads, including the capital ships. How in the nexus they even got up to the fleet centers remains a mystery, as human technology simply wasn’t advanced past placing geosynchronous communicators in their own orbit. To add insult, the humans used the captured fleet to commandeer the undefended bureaucratic envoy just after its arrival. And then? Then they repurposed the envoy to proclaim victory, making the Klee administrative apparatus assume the planet was in conquered status. It wasn’t until a whole cycle had passed until the Klee elite had noticed there wasn’t any tribute. But by then it was too late. The humans had adapted to the technology quickly. Not just to seize and use it, but also perverting Klee technology to suit their own destructive ends. From there, forty-nine cycles of interstellar destruction and chaos across entire systems. Unlike other space-faring species, the humans seem to have no respect for cosmic order. It is as if they must repurpose the universe itself to match their fleeting lifespan. They damage anything in their path to achieve even minor victories. Anger toward a conqueror was to be expected. But the patterns appeared to demonstrate a malice toward the Klee that could not have been predicted from an evolved species. Using space folding technology, they used a Klee warp engine to fold out the orbit of a key military installation, shifting it into the path of a black hole, and damaging the habitability of three separate colonies. They strapped fusion reactors onto refueling pylons and sent them back into the prime nexus, haphazardly destroying or crippling thirteen production outposts. In one engagement, a system neighboring a production facility with no military value was completely destroyed, a seemingly pointless act. But worst of all, in every encounter their soldiers and pilots show no regard whatsoever for their own personal safety, at times letting loose fission and fusion weapons of their own design, which spread fallout throughout half the Klee protectorate. It has made the end of the conflict nearly impossible to manage.	\[POEM\] They came from the Stars. They wanted to enslave us. They were told to leave, and never come back. They did not listen. They cannot listen anymore. They can only weep as we purge the last of their kind. They will not be remembered.
[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've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	The red light was blinking, indicating the failure of the shields, but the commander Ze’hyl could not be bothered. He was franticly looking through the data as the predictions of AI clearly did not match the reality, not anymore... It was his failure! He recommended the invasion of the Sol system. The home star of those gutless humans. \- How did it come to this?.. Decades of planning and analysis. These humans who would rather take the short end of a stick than show some spine. These… mammals who only know of negotiations, diplomacy, and compromise. Not a single interstellar conflict yet alone war since they joined the League. How are they doing this? It all went so well until we reached that small blue rock… The angry ichodrian drifted in thought as he was gazing upon the holographic display depicting the Sol system. \- Commendable effort for a race of a peace loving peons, it brought them some time but what of it or so I thought… Where all those ships, where all those troops came from? It cannot be technology, why would you lose so many positions if you had the means to defend them in the first place… Once again, he opened the human response to the declaration of war. The words sounded different from what he heard the first time. \- We hoped we could keep these doors closed forever. But now God help us all. As his mind was running through various scenarios, his eyes picked up on a small cloud of debris orbiting the sun in between the human home world and Venus. A strange thought formed in his head. \- What if, what if that cloud used to be a planet?... He updated the conditions for the AI and was met with despair. The predictions finally made sense and all it took was to name the cloud in between Venus and Mars a planet…
[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	"Well, we knew the humans had a military. They had to, you see. The worlds they were colonizing were dangerous, lots of life forms that want nothing but to kill..." the old soldier trailed off, lost in his memories. "I understand sir, but..." I didn't want to be rude. Battle Commander Gorvg was a hero to the Pteron people, and one of the last to ever face a human in battle. So he was the perfect subject for my research. "Can we talk about what led to the war?" "I'm getting there, lots of background to cover. So anyway, they had a military, but they'd never used it. They were great talkers, could talk all 12 ears off a Nfalu! And so privately, a lot of species wanted to test the mettle of humanity. Had to find out if they could really make it in the universe." I glanced at the recorder. 2.5 hours already, and we hadn't even gotten to the fighting yet. "And then the Xaaluu decided they'd be the first." I laughed. "I'm sorry sir, the Xaaluu weren't around 2000 years ago. They died well before humans were discovered." Battle Commander Gorvg glared at me, his one good eye cold as ice. "You so readily believe your history books. The Xaaluu sent a Capital Battle Group to attack a new colony. 5 Capital ships, humans called them "Battleships", stupid name, all ships are battle ships. 10 Intermediate ships, and 20 Support ships per group." "Sir," I interjected. "Do you know what the humans called the other ships? Just for the record." "Cruisers and Destroyers, respectively. Good question, young one." He leaned back in his seat before continuing. "The colony had 2 'Heavy Frigates' for defense and carrying troops. Completely outclassed by the Xaaluu laser weaponry." "I can't imagine the fight lasted long, Sir." "No... it didn't. What no one realized was that the humans still fired metallic projectiles and had perfected energy shielding. And they had lots of guns on those ships. Those two ships put out more firepower in 5 minutes than the entire Xaaluu Battle Group could put out in a week." My notebook hit the floor. "We saw the scans. It took 5 minutes for those ships to kill a Capital Battle Group. And the humans didn't stop there. They sent their fleets, yes! Multiple fleets! Into Xaaluu space. We had never seen such destruction, such death." Gorvg's eye had glazed over, he wasn't in the room with me anymore; he was back there, 2000 years ago. "That's when the Pteron's joined the fight. And they hit us harder than we'd ever been hit before. Worlds burned, every ship they saw utterly destroyed. We surrendered in weeks. But the Xaaluu fought on, and humanity was only too happy to extinguish their civilization." Gorvg sighed before continuing, "and then, when they had won, they returned. With ships and doctors and aid and food... to help us rebuild our worlds. The rest of the Galactic Council decided to hide this history from everyone. No one could know that we lived next to monsters. The most destructive, compassionate monsters we'd ever seen. It's a Capital offense, talking about this history, you know." For a 3000 year old veteran, Battle Commander Gorvg's reflexes hadn't slowed at all. Before I had even processed his last sentence, he had drawn and primed two Atomizer pistols. "But I think it's time to remember, young human." He motioned to the closet door, and I noticed footsteps approaching. "There's a trapdoor in there, take the ladder down. You'll find everything you need. Holodisks, holodrives, all the evidence of that old war. Hurry now, I'll hold them long enough for you to get away." The footsteps were closer now. I could hear the voices of the warriors, angry. They wanted blood. I rushed to the trapdoor, threw it open, and started down the ladder. Just before I closed the hatch, I took one last look at the hero. Battle Commander Gorvg of the Pteron people. He was smiling.	The red light was blinking, indicating the failure of the shields, but the commander Ze’hyl could not be bothered. He was franticly looking through the data as the predictions of AI clearly did not match the reality, not anymore... It was his failure! He recommended the invasion of the Sol system. The home star of those gutless humans. \- How did it come to this?.. Decades of planning and analysis. These humans who would rather take the short end of a stick than show some spine. These… mammals who only know of negotiations, diplomacy, and compromise. Not a single interstellar conflict yet alone war since they joined the League. How are they doing this? It all went so well until we reached that small blue rock… The angry ichodrian drifted in thought as he was gazing upon the holographic display depicting the Sol system. \- Commendable effort for a race of a peace loving peons, it brought them some time but what of it or so I thought… Where all those ships, where all those troops came from? It cannot be technology, why would you lose so many positions if you had the means to defend them in the first place… Once again, he opened the human response to the declaration of war. The words sounded different from what he heard the first time. \- We hoped we could keep these doors closed forever. But now God help us all. As his mind was running through various scenarios, his eyes picked up on a small cloud of debris orbiting the sun in between the human home world and Venus. A strange thought formed in his head. \- What if, what if that cloud used to be a planet?... He updated the conditions for the AI and was met with despair. The predictions finally made sense and all it took was to name the cloud in between Venus and Mars a planet…
[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 have no claimed that we were peaceful." Tobias said, a firm hand grasping the flag of the final human lands, the other curling tight around the hilt of his gun. It had been a long battle. A fight that took the lives of many brothers, fathers, and uncles. "I warned you. I told you that this war was pointless, that we would find a way to break free from you." Tobias jutted a finger in the Gamorians faces. For so long, the Garmorians were once their allies, their brothers in conflict. But that all changed with the underhanded tactics the Garmorians had used - had wielded to enslave the human race the moment an opportunity presented itself. It was just a moment of weakness. A lapsed of judgement on their behalf. They had trusted their friends from afar - the shared understanding. "I told you this - we will never give up." Tobias raised the gun in his hand. "I said that we would fight to the bitter end for our people." The gun weighed a millions tons as Tobias laid the barrel on the temple of his so-called brother. Al-fak, the man he'd thought he'd come to trust, to believe in, merely raised a groggy head, an eye turning over the field of dead filled with his people. "You told me you had no weapons against us." That had been a lie, of course. It was always a lie. Tobias cocked his gun. "A true leader would hide his last resort from invading beings." "A true friend would've been honest from the beginning." Al-fak said. "A 'real' friend, would've chose a different path than this." Tobias fought the whimper of sadness in his tone but failed to. Al-fak could only inhale sharply. He knew he was beaten the moment he'd attacked first. He'd bombed the hell out of the largest country on earth, and when his crew celebrated the fires that had burned, he'd lamented his decision. It had all been a sham from the beginning. From his first descent onto the world, he'd had his orders from the monarch that held his leash. He was to gain their trust, to gain their acceptance and then betray them - turning the planet into their new settlement. He will admit to a falter in his decision. When he'd first met Tobias, his compassion and kindness was a jarring experience that clouded his judgemeny. He'd thought it would be an easy task. A quick task. But he was wrong. The humans had known war better than the Garmorians. They had a better understanding of the cost for it. The pain it brought. The people it sacrificed... "Close your eyes," Tobias said. It was the only kindness he'd allow. Especially with the crowd of soldiers watching him. So, Al-fak did. He'd shut his eyelids tight and murmured his final words to his friend, "I'm sorry."	The red light was blinking, indicating the failure of the shields, but the commander Ze’hyl could not be bothered. He was franticly looking through the data as the predictions of AI clearly did not match the reality, not anymore... It was his failure! He recommended the invasion of the Sol system. The home star of those gutless humans. \- How did it come to this?.. Decades of planning and analysis. These humans who would rather take the short end of a stick than show some spine. These… mammals who only know of negotiations, diplomacy, and compromise. Not a single interstellar conflict yet alone war since they joined the League. How are they doing this? It all went so well until we reached that small blue rock… The angry ichodrian drifted in thought as he was gazing upon the holographic display depicting the Sol system. \- Commendable effort for a race of a peace loving peons, it brought them some time but what of it or so I thought… Where all those ships, where all those troops came from? It cannot be technology, why would you lose so many positions if you had the means to defend them in the first place… Once again, he opened the human response to the declaration of war. The words sounded different from what he heard the first time. \- We hoped we could keep these doors closed forever. But now God help us all. As his mind was running through various scenarios, his eyes picked up on a small cloud of debris orbiting the sun in between the human home world and Venus. A strange thought formed in his head. \- What if, what if that cloud used to be a planet?... He updated the conditions for the AI and was met with despair. The predictions finally made sense and all it took was to name the cloud in between Venus and Mars a planet…
[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	“Examiner, have you reached any conclusions?” The holo-video lit up in the center of the laboratory. The face of Preator Endex filled the void in the center of the room. “Yes. Praetor. The specimen you provided was intact enough to draw a conclusion,” Examiner Zendex replied. “If I may ask, how was such a faultless specimen procured?” “By accident, Examiner.” Zendex could hear the embarrassment in the Preator’s voice. The Klee were notorious for their ability to plan. To have a complete human specimen simply fall into their possession as an act of luck was an insult to the Praetor’s ability to calculate probable outcomes. Still, it was likely that the additional information to be gleaned from studying a full anatomy could very well prove the turning of the war. “I see.” Zendex obfuscated his disapproval outwardly, while in actual fact he was enjoying the Praetor’s discomfort. No less than twelve successors to the current Praetor had all tried to turn the tide of the galactic conflict. Over fifty cycles, and none had succeeded. For all his braggadocio, Praetor Endex had proven equally incapable of mastering the necessary variables to overcome this foe. Not that it wasn’t a complex problem…. “Please, state your conclusion, then propose the underlying premises,” the Praetor encouraged. “Of course,” Zendex paused, wondering if the magnitude of his discoveries would be fully communicated, much less appreciated by the greater Klee protectorate. “The additional information gleaned from this specimen leads to the conclusion that this war will be over in less than two cycles.” The Praetor bared his mandibles in a sign of satisfaction. “Ah, we have it then. What is your margin of error?” The Examiner balked. To ask the question of an Examiner of such high esteem was almost an insult. “Within the ninety ninth percentile, Praetor.” “Then by all means, state your premises.” It was customary in Klee society to state the conclusion of an encounter first, then reveal the necessary background information informing the deduction. To save on the need for pointless interactions, a subordinate would typically accept the conclusions of an Elder. This was given to the Klee’s exceptional ability to calculate probabilities into several dimensions of thinking. To inquire into the basis for a deduction was to show interest, and thus respect, for the proponent of the conclusion. The Praetor was clearly showing great respect for the Examiner’s presentation. Such deference deserved a thorough exhibition. “I direct your attention to the specimen, Praetor.” The lifeless body of the pale human lay limply on the examining table, its various entrails and organs neatly stacked in a small row next to it. “As you can see from the scorian readout, the Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Muscular and Renal systems of these humans are typical of a class four evolutionary primateon species. Other than the digestive systems ability to vacate a surprising number of toxins, these systems are rather unremarkable...” The presentation continued, analyzing each biological strength and weakness in turn. The Praetor patiently listened. The Klee had conquered thousands of species in galactic combat. No race had been able to withstand their superior minds, being able to calculate and adapt to thousands of permutations and possible outcomes. And so it was supposed to be a simple conquest of this backward human world. Their superior numbers and technology obvious, the Klee had offered the humans a dignified surrender almost simultaneously with their invasion. The Klee war counsel had noted that the humans preferred to rely on diplomacy, which loosely translated basically meant mutual surrender, with neither side a victor. Words were a decent enough tool to fend off aggression in some cases. But without the might to back up those words … the Klee knew better. Despite its 1,000 years of peace with its neighbors, the Klee knew that no diplomacy would be enough to prevent Earth’s capture. At least, they thought they knew. Despite the analytical approach to the invasion, this unremarkable species had left cataclysmic destruction in its wake. Generally, an intergalactic war took one, maybe two cycles to conclude, especially when victory from one side or the other was all but assured. Once both sides concluded that victory was inevitable, a ceremonial surrender was typical. But the current conflict had lasted over fifty cycles, and the waste of resources had nearly drained the empire into insolvency. It wouldn’t be long until the outer systems calculated weakness… These humans did not conform to any known parameters. In most conflicts, multiple circumstances could be calculated, reevaluated, predicted. But not humans. In one iteration, humans would behave conservatively, almost to a fault. Giving ground even when obvious advantages could clearly be seized. In other encounters, they displayed a recklessness and ferocity known only among the unevolved. Fifty cycles later and they were just as impossible to predict as the day the Klee invaded Earth. The Earth invasion was a disaster by any tactical standard. It had been studied, reanalyzed, reinterpreted. But no solid conclusions could be reached. Upon landfall, the humans initially reacted as any other class four primateon. Family units hiding in fear. Communications disrupted. Military responses disorganized. And then, as if signaled by a Praetorean elite, something changed. The humans responded with the ferociousness and recklessness of an unevolved reptile or arachnid. Forces were marshaled imperfectly, but effectively. Counter offensives with no seeming probability of victory nevertheless succeeded. And once some Klee technology was in the hands of the enemy, the situation went all downsystem. Native humans with no military training whatsoever were taking up munitions and retaliating with no regard to their own existence. Elite human units advanced TOWARD certain death. By the time the provisional government envoy arrived to impose judicial order, the humans had routed all 36 expeditionary squads, including the capital ships. How in the nexus they even got up to the fleet centers remains a mystery, as human technology simply wasn’t advanced past placing geosynchronous communicators in their own orbit. To add insult, the humans used the captured fleet to commandeer the undefended bureaucratic envoy just after its arrival. And then? Then they repurposed the envoy to proclaim victory, making the Klee administrative apparatus assume the planet was in conquered status. It wasn’t until a whole cycle had passed until the Klee elite had noticed there wasn’t any tribute. But by then it was too late. The humans had adapted to the technology quickly. Not just to seize and use it, but also perverting Klee technology to suit their own destructive ends. From there, forty-nine cycles of interstellar destruction and chaos across entire systems. Unlike other space-faring species, the humans seem to have no respect for cosmic order. It is as if they must repurpose the universe itself to match their fleeting lifespan. They damage anything in their path to achieve even minor victories. Anger toward a conqueror was to be expected. But the patterns appeared to demonstrate a malice toward the Klee that could not have been predicted from an evolved species. Using space folding technology, they used a Klee warp engine to fold out the orbit of a key military installation, shifting it into the path of a black hole, and damaging the habitability of three separate colonies. They strapped fusion reactors onto refueling pylons and sent them back into the prime nexus, haphazardly destroying or crippling thirteen production outposts. In one engagement, a system neighboring a production facility with no military value was completely destroyed, a seemingly pointless act. But worst of all, in every encounter their soldiers and pilots show no regard whatsoever for their own personal safety, at times letting loose fission and fusion weapons of their own design, which spread fallout throughout half the Klee protectorate. It has made the end of the conflict nearly impossible to manage.	The red light was blinking, indicating the failure of the shields, but the commander Ze’hyl could not be bothered. He was franticly looking through the data as the predictions of AI clearly did not match the reality, not anymore... It was his failure! He recommended the invasion of the Sol system. The home star of those gutless humans. \- How did it come to this?.. Decades of planning and analysis. These humans who would rather take the short end of a stick than show some spine. These… mammals who only know of negotiations, diplomacy, and compromise. Not a single interstellar conflict yet alone war since they joined the League. How are they doing this? It all went so well until we reached that small blue rock… The angry ichodrian drifted in thought as he was gazing upon the holographic display depicting the Sol system. \- Commendable effort for a race of a peace loving peons, it brought them some time but what of it or so I thought… Where all those ships, where all those troops came from? It cannot be technology, why would you lose so many positions if you had the means to defend them in the first place… Once again, he opened the human response to the declaration of war. The words sounded different from what he heard the first time. \- We hoped we could keep these doors closed forever. But now God help us all. As his mind was running through various scenarios, his eyes picked up on a small cloud of debris orbiting the sun in between the human home world and Venus. A strange thought formed in his head. \- What if, what if that cloud used to be a planet?... He updated the conditions for the AI and was met with despair. The predictions finally made sense and all it took was to name the cloud in between Venus and Mars a planet…
[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've studied them for hundreds of years. It was a simple planet, barely reaching passed their own moon. Our records showed they knew of war, they knew it well, but in their modern times they avoided it with diplomacy. The weaklings pleadings of mercy to the powerful. Our emperor laughed. Such actions mean weakness to our kind, and our victories have all but proven this true. Their diplomats came. Offered knowledge, culture, trinkets. Worthless. Their diplomats we're the first blood spilled. I remember when we received our first casualties. All at once, our orbital starships crashed upon their planets surface. We knew they had weapons, but we underestimated their power. Nuclear bombs. The same material used to once power our early space fairing vessels, weaponized. Our ancestors beloved it impossible. Not for the humans. We crashed and we're met by explosions of fire that melted our hauls, ammunition made from metals and not energy, making our shields useless. Our blasters had ten shots before a recharge. Their firearms fired off thousands in a second. Our dead went from thousands to millions. The few that were not killed, were taken prisoner. Torture unlike anything our race could fathom. Brutality on par with the ancient dark ones of myth. Humanity didn't offer diplomacy as a weakness... They were being kind. They were showing us mercy, for we knew not what their race was capable of. Against one another, they are evenly matched. United against a common enemy, we never stood a chance. They took our technology, modified it, reverse engineered it, improved it. In a week, they had their own armadas. In a month, they overthrew all our nearest outposts and colonies, both made by us and taken from the weak. In a year, our empire was in ashes. To all who hear this transmission, beware, beware the species known as Humans. For if you see one. Accept their kindness, accept their mercy... For their wrath could burn the whole galaxy...	"Emperor, High Chancellor of Earth on Luma link to you", an advisor notified Emperor Gaumph. "Link up." The emperor replied. Holo visage of an elderly human sitting behind a desk materialized in the middle of the throne room. "I presume this is about your mutual defense treaty with Lakilla?" The emperor asked the apparition. "Yes. You shall withdraw all your forces immediately, or there will be dire consequences." The emperor laughed. "Two puny defenseless races without so much as an army in a mutual defense treaty. What a joke. What are you going to do? Establish embargo on Coca-Cola? It's a popular drink among our people but our supplies will last until Earth is conquered and we'll have it without tariffs." "We will destroy your cities, stations, colonies and capital ships one by one, until you surrender or until your successor surrenders." "You and what army?" "I think you're not treating our threat seriously, so let me demonstrate our capacity." High Counsellor tapped something on the desk in front of him. Surely a map in holo; you can't visualize a holo in another holo so it wasn't visible. One of advisors sprung to alert. "Emperor, I just got a report, Acordia just exploded." "The capital ship?! How?! Raise shields on all ships and planets now!" "The signature is antimatter, about a kilogram worth of antimatter annihilated, the ship was literally wiped out!" "Ah, so a hyperspace torpedo. They caught us unaware, but now with shields up they can fire away. Every object of importance is protected." Chancellor tapped some other spot. Another advisor jumped up. "Emperor, the army colony of Maruja is gone!" "Did they fail to raise the shield?" "No, Emperor! The shield is still up, and filled with inferno left after an anti-matter explosion!" "Attack! Send the armada to Earth! Destroy them before they destroy more of our resources!" The chancellor shook his head. "I was afraid it would come to this. Let us hope your second-in-command is more reasonable." He tapped a spot on his desk. A Coca-Cola dispenser machine in the lobby of the Imperial Palace made a quiet ding. Then the palace and the emperor ceased to exist in an antimatter explosion.
[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	"Well, we knew the humans had a military. They had to, you see. The worlds they were colonizing were dangerous, lots of life forms that want nothing but to kill..." the old soldier trailed off, lost in his memories. "I understand sir, but..." I didn't want to be rude. Battle Commander Gorvg was a hero to the Pteron people, and one of the last to ever face a human in battle. So he was the perfect subject for my research. "Can we talk about what led to the war?" "I'm getting there, lots of background to cover. So anyway, they had a military, but they'd never used it. They were great talkers, could talk all 12 ears off a Nfalu! And so privately, a lot of species wanted to test the mettle of humanity. Had to find out if they could really make it in the universe." I glanced at the recorder. 2.5 hours already, and we hadn't even gotten to the fighting yet. "And then the Xaaluu decided they'd be the first." I laughed. "I'm sorry sir, the Xaaluu weren't around 2000 years ago. They died well before humans were discovered." Battle Commander Gorvg glared at me, his one good eye cold as ice. "You so readily believe your history books. The Xaaluu sent a Capital Battle Group to attack a new colony. 5 Capital ships, humans called them "Battleships", stupid name, all ships are battle ships. 10 Intermediate ships, and 20 Support ships per group." "Sir," I interjected. "Do you know what the humans called the other ships? Just for the record." "Cruisers and Destroyers, respectively. Good question, young one." He leaned back in his seat before continuing. "The colony had 2 'Heavy Frigates' for defense and carrying troops. Completely outclassed by the Xaaluu laser weaponry." "I can't imagine the fight lasted long, Sir." "No... it didn't. What no one realized was that the humans still fired metallic projectiles and had perfected energy shielding. And they had lots of guns on those ships. Those two ships put out more firepower in 5 minutes than the entire Xaaluu Battle Group could put out in a week." My notebook hit the floor. "We saw the scans. It took 5 minutes for those ships to kill a Capital Battle Group. And the humans didn't stop there. They sent their fleets, yes! Multiple fleets! Into Xaaluu space. We had never seen such destruction, such death." Gorvg's eye had glazed over, he wasn't in the room with me anymore; he was back there, 2000 years ago. "That's when the Pteron's joined the fight. And they hit us harder than we'd ever been hit before. Worlds burned, every ship they saw utterly destroyed. We surrendered in weeks. But the Xaaluu fought on, and humanity was only too happy to extinguish their civilization." Gorvg sighed before continuing, "and then, when they had won, they returned. With ships and doctors and aid and food... to help us rebuild our worlds. The rest of the Galactic Council decided to hide this history from everyone. No one could know that we lived next to monsters. The most destructive, compassionate monsters we'd ever seen. It's a Capital offense, talking about this history, you know." For a 3000 year old veteran, Battle Commander Gorvg's reflexes hadn't slowed at all. Before I had even processed his last sentence, he had drawn and primed two Atomizer pistols. "But I think it's time to remember, young human." He motioned to the closet door, and I noticed footsteps approaching. "There's a trapdoor in there, take the ladder down. You'll find everything you need. Holodisks, holodrives, all the evidence of that old war. Hurry now, I'll hold them long enough for you to get away." The footsteps were closer now. I could hear the voices of the warriors, angry. They wanted blood. I rushed to the trapdoor, threw it open, and started down the ladder. Just before I closed the hatch, I took one last look at the hero. Battle Commander Gorvg of the Pteron people. He was smiling.	"Emperor, High Chancellor of Earth on Luma link to you", an advisor notified Emperor Gaumph. "Link up." The emperor replied. Holo visage of an elderly human sitting behind a desk materialized in the middle of the throne room. "I presume this is about your mutual defense treaty with Lakilla?" The emperor asked the apparition. "Yes. You shall withdraw all your forces immediately, or there will be dire consequences." The emperor laughed. "Two puny defenseless races without so much as an army in a mutual defense treaty. What a joke. What are you going to do? Establish embargo on Coca-Cola? It's a popular drink among our people but our supplies will last until Earth is conquered and we'll have it without tariffs." "We will destroy your cities, stations, colonies and capital ships one by one, until you surrender or until your successor surrenders." "You and what army?" "I think you're not treating our threat seriously, so let me demonstrate our capacity." High Counsellor tapped something on the desk in front of him. Surely a map in holo; you can't visualize a holo in another holo so it wasn't visible. One of advisors sprung to alert. "Emperor, I just got a report, Acordia just exploded." "The capital ship?! How?! Raise shields on all ships and planets now!" "The signature is antimatter, about a kilogram worth of antimatter annihilated, the ship was literally wiped out!" "Ah, so a hyperspace torpedo. They caught us unaware, but now with shields up they can fire away. Every object of importance is protected." Chancellor tapped some other spot. Another advisor jumped up. "Emperor, the army colony of Maruja is gone!" "Did they fail to raise the shield?" "No, Emperor! The shield is still up, and filled with inferno left after an anti-matter explosion!" "Attack! Send the armada to Earth! Destroy them before they destroy more of our resources!" The chancellor shook his head. "I was afraid it would come to this. Let us hope your second-in-command is more reasonable." He tapped a spot on his desk. A Coca-Cola dispenser machine in the lobby of the Imperial Palace made a quiet ding. Then the palace and the emperor ceased to exist in an antimatter explosion.
[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 have no claimed that we were peaceful." Tobias said, a firm hand grasping the flag of the final human lands, the other curling tight around the hilt of his gun. It had been a long battle. A fight that took the lives of many brothers, fathers, and uncles. "I warned you. I told you that this war was pointless, that we would find a way to break free from you." Tobias jutted a finger in the Gamorians faces. For so long, the Garmorians were once their allies, their brothers in conflict. But that all changed with the underhanded tactics the Garmorians had used - had wielded to enslave the human race the moment an opportunity presented itself. It was just a moment of weakness. A lapsed of judgement on their behalf. They had trusted their friends from afar - the shared understanding. "I told you this - we will never give up." Tobias raised the gun in his hand. "I said that we would fight to the bitter end for our people." The gun weighed a millions tons as Tobias laid the barrel on the temple of his so-called brother. Al-fak, the man he'd thought he'd come to trust, to believe in, merely raised a groggy head, an eye turning over the field of dead filled with his people. "You told me you had no weapons against us." That had been a lie, of course. It was always a lie. Tobias cocked his gun. "A true leader would hide his last resort from invading beings." "A true friend would've been honest from the beginning." Al-fak said. "A 'real' friend, would've chose a different path than this." Tobias fought the whimper of sadness in his tone but failed to. Al-fak could only inhale sharply. He knew he was beaten the moment he'd attacked first. He'd bombed the hell out of the largest country on earth, and when his crew celebrated the fires that had burned, he'd lamented his decision. It had all been a sham from the beginning. From his first descent onto the world, he'd had his orders from the monarch that held his leash. He was to gain their trust, to gain their acceptance and then betray them - turning the planet into their new settlement. He will admit to a falter in his decision. When he'd first met Tobias, his compassion and kindness was a jarring experience that clouded his judgemeny. He'd thought it would be an easy task. A quick task. But he was wrong. The humans had known war better than the Garmorians. They had a better understanding of the cost for it. The pain it brought. The people it sacrificed... "Close your eyes," Tobias said. It was the only kindness he'd allow. Especially with the crowd of soldiers watching him. So, Al-fak did. He'd shut his eyelids tight and murmured his final words to his friend, "I'm sorry."	"Emperor, High Chancellor of Earth on Luma link to you", an advisor notified Emperor Gaumph. "Link up." The emperor replied. Holo visage of an elderly human sitting behind a desk materialized in the middle of the throne room. "I presume this is about your mutual defense treaty with Lakilla?" The emperor asked the apparition. "Yes. You shall withdraw all your forces immediately, or there will be dire consequences." The emperor laughed. "Two puny defenseless races without so much as an army in a mutual defense treaty. What a joke. What are you going to do? Establish embargo on Coca-Cola? It's a popular drink among our people but our supplies will last until Earth is conquered and we'll have it without tariffs." "We will destroy your cities, stations, colonies and capital ships one by one, until you surrender or until your successor surrenders." "You and what army?" "I think you're not treating our threat seriously, so let me demonstrate our capacity." High Counsellor tapped something on the desk in front of him. Surely a map in holo; you can't visualize a holo in another holo so it wasn't visible. One of advisors sprung to alert. "Emperor, I just got a report, Acordia just exploded." "The capital ship?! How?! Raise shields on all ships and planets now!" "The signature is antimatter, about a kilogram worth of antimatter annihilated, the ship was literally wiped out!" "Ah, so a hyperspace torpedo. They caught us unaware, but now with shields up they can fire away. Every object of importance is protected." Chancellor tapped some other spot. Another advisor jumped up. "Emperor, the army colony of Maruja is gone!" "Did they fail to raise the shield?" "No, Emperor! The shield is still up, and filled with inferno left after an anti-matter explosion!" "Attack! Send the armada to Earth! Destroy them before they destroy more of our resources!" The chancellor shook his head. "I was afraid it would come to this. Let us hope your second-in-command is more reasonable." He tapped a spot on his desk. A Coca-Cola dispenser machine in the lobby of the Imperial Palace made a quiet ding. Then the palace and the emperor ceased to exist in an antimatter explosion.
[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	Log 1.01 - 6462/55 Potential major new biodiversity harvest, Arm 4, stellar coordinates \[classified\]. Approximately 9 million identifiable species, DNA-based. Minor indigenous sapience, no world government, hive mind, or cybernetic control. Not even common language. 1.02 - 6462/56 Received message from imperial satrap, Council of Entities agrees with assessment, harvest of new world moved to top priority, codename Project Windfall. Biodiversity loss on Zor homeworlds considerably graver than generally leaked to non-Council Entities, new harvests to take priority over inorganic material harvests. Changing course to Windfall. 2.01 - 6462/87 Reached Windfall. Harvester ships Ixin, Cath, Roklut expected to arrive by 90-91. Recon drones deployed. 2.02 - 6462/89 Recon drones confirm probe drone. Massive biodiversity lode plus abundant liquid water. No organized opposition. Indigenous sapience in form of tribal/social primates, greater native intelligence than any other non-Zor species yet encountered, rudimentary AI capabilities, but most advanced capabilities used to fight other members of same species. Most advanced weapons are fission type, they hesitate to use them on one another only due to threat of retaliation in kind, but still an impressive accomplishment for a species with no guiding central authority. Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, will set aside additional share of the most bountiful harvest in the last millennium for the Zor if he'll sponsor additional seat on Council of Entities. 2.03 - 6462/92 Harvester ships arrived. Commencing harvest of Windfall. 2.04 - 6462/99 Native primate technology as expected is no match for ours. Multiple ape social colonies ("cities") razed and harvested. Resistance fierce but ineffective. 3.01 - 6462/120 Harvest progressing but slower than expected. Native primates behave in substantially unanticipated ways exposed to new stimuli. No significant trouble expected but we should perhaps pay attention to their social reaction complex as interesting in its own right, not mere biodiversity in a universe in which that always appears to be shrinking. 3.02 - 6462/160 Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, harvest can progress as things stand but additional armed escorts would assist. Native primates ("humans," they call themselves) demonstrate substantial adaptive capabilities, particularly with respect to martial capabilities. As you are aware, our weapons cannot be used by nonmembers of our species due to DNA coding that makes all our weapons cease function if held by an entity not of our species. In less than 50 days, these "humans" came up with the barbarous but effective adaptation of making gloves out of our skins, allowing them to hold our weapons and turn them against us. 3.03 - 6462/161 Humans merit further study after skin-stealing adaptation. Harvested multiple of their soldiers, of various ages, intact. Placed in stasis for further study. 3.04 - 6462/197 Almost all standard harvest protocols for problematic biodiversity surprisingly ineffective with respect to humans. Already considering resorting to Cleanser virus but degradation of the biodiversity haul of Windfall would substantially impair strategic objectives of harvest in the first place. 3.05 - 6462/249 Human population ongoing adaptation proving dangerous. Multiple counteroffensives and countermeasures somehow initiated spontaneously, imitating coordination with no coordinating authority or intelligence. Spontaneous organization of species-wide resistance including against orbital and ecological attacks. Apologies to the Council of Entities, but we cannot leave them alive. Initiating Cleanser virus, programming human DNA as primary target but DNA similarity of human and other biodiversity on this planet means harvest will be dramatically curtailed. 3.06 - 6462/259 - URGENT Cleanser virus largely successful but significant populations of humans remain alive. Moreover, those left alive appear to have sequenced and adapted it to attack us, somehow in the space of ten days. Expeditionary force and harvesters have withdrawn to ships. Will proceed with battle against humans and harvest Windfall with drone tech alone. Analysis at this point is pessimistic; drone tech alone unlikely to prevail given chaotic but frenetic adaptation of human species so far against Cleanser and other rogue biodiversity countermeasures. 4.01 - 6262/272 - URGENT Developing incident in progress in stasis chamber, unscheduled maintenance mode activations, emergency termination sequence malfunctioning. Human soldier prisoners may be loose onboard. 4.02 - 6462/272 - URGENT They are coming. Initiating self destruct. 5.01 - July 3, 2077 - YEAH, PROBABLY STILL URGENT Cool log. Looks like the self-destruct failed though. That kinda sucks. Sucks that we had to use your harvest ships to harvest the remains of most of our own cities, too, but there wasn't much left of them and at least your little flying factories helped us jumpstart our own fleet with all the metal of our old cities. Gotta live somewhere. And the view of Earth from space is still majestic even if y'all fucked it up on the surface. Oh, also, if you're reading this, just FYI ... we're still coming. Got nothing else to do now, and payback's a bitch. Signed, Humanity.	"Emperor, High Chancellor of Earth on Luma link to you", an advisor notified Emperor Gaumph. "Link up." The emperor replied. Holo visage of an elderly human sitting behind a desk materialized in the middle of the throne room. "I presume this is about your mutual defense treaty with Lakilla?" The emperor asked the apparition. "Yes. You shall withdraw all your forces immediately, or there will be dire consequences." The emperor laughed. "Two puny defenseless races without so much as an army in a mutual defense treaty. What a joke. What are you going to do? Establish embargo on Coca-Cola? It's a popular drink among our people but our supplies will last until Earth is conquered and we'll have it without tariffs." "We will destroy your cities, stations, colonies and capital ships one by one, until you surrender or until your successor surrenders." "You and what army?" "I think you're not treating our threat seriously, so let me demonstrate our capacity." High Counsellor tapped something on the desk in front of him. Surely a map in holo; you can't visualize a holo in another holo so it wasn't visible. One of advisors sprung to alert. "Emperor, I just got a report, Acordia just exploded." "The capital ship?! How?! Raise shields on all ships and planets now!" "The signature is antimatter, about a kilogram worth of antimatter annihilated, the ship was literally wiped out!" "Ah, so a hyperspace torpedo. They caught us unaware, but now with shields up they can fire away. Every object of importance is protected." Chancellor tapped some other spot. Another advisor jumped up. "Emperor, the army colony of Maruja is gone!" "Did they fail to raise the shield?" "No, Emperor! The shield is still up, and filled with inferno left after an anti-matter explosion!" "Attack! Send the armada to Earth! Destroy them before they destroy more of our resources!" The chancellor shook his head. "I was afraid it would come to this. Let us hope your second-in-command is more reasonable." He tapped a spot on his desk. A Coca-Cola dispenser machine in the lobby of the Imperial Palace made a quiet ding. Then the palace and the emperor ceased to exist in an antimatter explosion.
[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	“Examiner, have you reached any conclusions?” The holo-video lit up in the center of the laboratory. The face of Preator Endex filled the void in the center of the room. “Yes. Praetor. The specimen you provided was intact enough to draw a conclusion,” Examiner Zendex replied. “If I may ask, how was such a faultless specimen procured?” “By accident, Examiner.” Zendex could hear the embarrassment in the Preator’s voice. The Klee were notorious for their ability to plan. To have a complete human specimen simply fall into their possession as an act of luck was an insult to the Praetor’s ability to calculate probable outcomes. Still, it was likely that the additional information to be gleaned from studying a full anatomy could very well prove the turning of the war. “I see.” Zendex obfuscated his disapproval outwardly, while in actual fact he was enjoying the Praetor’s discomfort. No less than twelve successors to the current Praetor had all tried to turn the tide of the galactic conflict. Over fifty cycles, and none had succeeded. For all his braggadocio, Praetor Endex had proven equally incapable of mastering the necessary variables to overcome this foe. Not that it wasn’t a complex problem…. “Please, state your conclusion, then propose the underlying premises,” the Praetor encouraged. “Of course,” Zendex paused, wondering if the magnitude of his discoveries would be fully communicated, much less appreciated by the greater Klee protectorate. “The additional information gleaned from this specimen leads to the conclusion that this war will be over in less than two cycles.” The Praetor bared his mandibles in a sign of satisfaction. “Ah, we have it then. What is your margin of error?” The Examiner balked. To ask the question of an Examiner of such high esteem was almost an insult. “Within the ninety ninth percentile, Praetor.” “Then by all means, state your premises.” It was customary in Klee society to state the conclusion of an encounter first, then reveal the necessary background information informing the deduction. To save on the need for pointless interactions, a subordinate would typically accept the conclusions of an Elder. This was given to the Klee’s exceptional ability to calculate probabilities into several dimensions of thinking. To inquire into the basis for a deduction was to show interest, and thus respect, for the proponent of the conclusion. The Praetor was clearly showing great respect for the Examiner’s presentation. Such deference deserved a thorough exhibition. “I direct your attention to the specimen, Praetor.” The lifeless body of the pale human lay limply on the examining table, its various entrails and organs neatly stacked in a small row next to it. “As you can see from the scorian readout, the Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Muscular and Renal systems of these humans are typical of a class four evolutionary primateon species. Other than the digestive systems ability to vacate a surprising number of toxins, these systems are rather unremarkable...” The presentation continued, analyzing each biological strength and weakness in turn. The Praetor patiently listened. The Klee had conquered thousands of species in galactic combat. No race had been able to withstand their superior minds, being able to calculate and adapt to thousands of permutations and possible outcomes. And so it was supposed to be a simple conquest of this backward human world. Their superior numbers and technology obvious, the Klee had offered the humans a dignified surrender almost simultaneously with their invasion. The Klee war counsel had noted that the humans preferred to rely on diplomacy, which loosely translated basically meant mutual surrender, with neither side a victor. Words were a decent enough tool to fend off aggression in some cases. But without the might to back up those words … the Klee knew better. Despite its 1,000 years of peace with its neighbors, the Klee knew that no diplomacy would be enough to prevent Earth’s capture. At least, they thought they knew. Despite the analytical approach to the invasion, this unremarkable species had left cataclysmic destruction in its wake. Generally, an intergalactic war took one, maybe two cycles to conclude, especially when victory from one side or the other was all but assured. Once both sides concluded that victory was inevitable, a ceremonial surrender was typical. But the current conflict had lasted over fifty cycles, and the waste of resources had nearly drained the empire into insolvency. It wouldn’t be long until the outer systems calculated weakness… These humans did not conform to any known parameters. In most conflicts, multiple circumstances could be calculated, reevaluated, predicted. But not humans. In one iteration, humans would behave conservatively, almost to a fault. Giving ground even when obvious advantages could clearly be seized. In other encounters, they displayed a recklessness and ferocity known only among the unevolved. Fifty cycles later and they were just as impossible to predict as the day the Klee invaded Earth. The Earth invasion was a disaster by any tactical standard. It had been studied, reanalyzed, reinterpreted. But no solid conclusions could be reached. Upon landfall, the humans initially reacted as any other class four primateon. Family units hiding in fear. Communications disrupted. Military responses disorganized. And then, as if signaled by a Praetorean elite, something changed. The humans responded with the ferociousness and recklessness of an unevolved reptile or arachnid. Forces were marshaled imperfectly, but effectively. Counter offensives with no seeming probability of victory nevertheless succeeded. And once some Klee technology was in the hands of the enemy, the situation went all downsystem. Native humans with no military training whatsoever were taking up munitions and retaliating with no regard to their own existence. Elite human units advanced TOWARD certain death. By the time the provisional government envoy arrived to impose judicial order, the humans had routed all 36 expeditionary squads, including the capital ships. How in the nexus they even got up to the fleet centers remains a mystery, as human technology simply wasn’t advanced past placing geosynchronous communicators in their own orbit. To add insult, the humans used the captured fleet to commandeer the undefended bureaucratic envoy just after its arrival. And then? Then they repurposed the envoy to proclaim victory, making the Klee administrative apparatus assume the planet was in conquered status. It wasn’t until a whole cycle had passed until the Klee elite had noticed there wasn’t any tribute. But by then it was too late. The humans had adapted to the technology quickly. Not just to seize and use it, but also perverting Klee technology to suit their own destructive ends. From there, forty-nine cycles of interstellar destruction and chaos across entire systems. Unlike other space-faring species, the humans seem to have no respect for cosmic order. It is as if they must repurpose the universe itself to match their fleeting lifespan. They damage anything in their path to achieve even minor victories. Anger toward a conqueror was to be expected. But the patterns appeared to demonstrate a malice toward the Klee that could not have been predicted from an evolved species. Using space folding technology, they used a Klee warp engine to fold out the orbit of a key military installation, shifting it into the path of a black hole, and damaging the habitability of three separate colonies. They strapped fusion reactors onto refueling pylons and sent them back into the prime nexus, haphazardly destroying or crippling thirteen production outposts. In one engagement, a system neighboring a production facility with no military value was completely destroyed, a seemingly pointless act. But worst of all, in every encounter their soldiers and pilots show no regard whatsoever for their own personal safety, at times letting loose fission and fusion weapons of their own design, which spread fallout throughout half the Klee protectorate. It has made the end of the conflict nearly impossible to manage.	"Emperor, High Chancellor of Earth on Luma link to you", an advisor notified Emperor Gaumph. "Link up." The emperor replied. Holo visage of an elderly human sitting behind a desk materialized in the middle of the throne room. "I presume this is about your mutual defense treaty with Lakilla?" The emperor asked the apparition. "Yes. You shall withdraw all your forces immediately, or there will be dire consequences." The emperor laughed. "Two puny defenseless races without so much as an army in a mutual defense treaty. What a joke. What are you going to do? Establish embargo on Coca-Cola? It's a popular drink among our people but our supplies will last until Earth is conquered and we'll have it without tariffs." "We will destroy your cities, stations, colonies and capital ships one by one, until you surrender or until your successor surrenders." "You and what army?" "I think you're not treating our threat seriously, so let me demonstrate our capacity." High Counsellor tapped something on the desk in front of him. Surely a map in holo; you can't visualize a holo in another holo so it wasn't visible. One of advisors sprung to alert. "Emperor, I just got a report, Acordia just exploded." "The capital ship?! How?! Raise shields on all ships and planets now!" "The signature is antimatter, about a kilogram worth of antimatter annihilated, the ship was literally wiped out!" "Ah, so a hyperspace torpedo. They caught us unaware, but now with shields up they can fire away. Every object of importance is protected." Chancellor tapped some other spot. Another advisor jumped up. "Emperor, the army colony of Maruja is gone!" "Did they fail to raise the shield?" "No, Emperor! The shield is still up, and filled with inferno left after an anti-matter explosion!" "Attack! Send the armada to Earth! Destroy them before they destroy more of our resources!" The chancellor shook his head. "I was afraid it would come to this. Let us hope your second-in-command is more reasonable." He tapped a spot on his desk. A Coca-Cola dispenser machine in the lobby of the Imperial Palace made a quiet ding. Then the palace and the emperor ceased to exist in an antimatter explosion.
[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 have no claimed that we were peaceful." Tobias said, a firm hand grasping the flag of the final human lands, the other curling tight around the hilt of his gun. It had been a long battle. A fight that took the lives of many brothers, fathers, and uncles. "I warned you. I told you that this war was pointless, that we would find a way to break free from you." Tobias jutted a finger in the Gamorians faces. For so long, the Garmorians were once their allies, their brothers in conflict. But that all changed with the underhanded tactics the Garmorians had used - had wielded to enslave the human race the moment an opportunity presented itself. It was just a moment of weakness. A lapsed of judgement on their behalf. They had trusted their friends from afar - the shared understanding. "I told you this - we will never give up." Tobias raised the gun in his hand. "I said that we would fight to the bitter end for our people." The gun weighed a millions tons as Tobias laid the barrel on the temple of his so-called brother. Al-fak, the man he'd thought he'd come to trust, to believe in, merely raised a groggy head, an eye turning over the field of dead filled with his people. "You told me you had no weapons against us." That had been a lie, of course. It was always a lie. Tobias cocked his gun. "A true leader would hide his last resort from invading beings." "A true friend would've been honest from the beginning." Al-fak said. "A 'real' friend, would've chose a different path than this." Tobias fought the whimper of sadness in his tone but failed to. Al-fak could only inhale sharply. He knew he was beaten the moment he'd attacked first. He'd bombed the hell out of the largest country on earth, and when his crew celebrated the fires that had burned, he'd lamented his decision. It had all been a sham from the beginning. From his first descent onto the world, he'd had his orders from the monarch that held his leash. He was to gain their trust, to gain their acceptance and then betray them - turning the planet into their new settlement. He will admit to a falter in his decision. When he'd first met Tobias, his compassion and kindness was a jarring experience that clouded his judgemeny. He'd thought it would be an easy task. A quick task. But he was wrong. The humans had known war better than the Garmorians. They had a better understanding of the cost for it. The pain it brought. The people it sacrificed... "Close your eyes," Tobias said. It was the only kindness he'd allow. Especially with the crowd of soldiers watching him. So, Al-fak did. He'd shut his eyelids tight and murmured his final words to his friend, "I'm sorry."	We thought that we knew what we were doing. They had barely made it to their own moon before we had arrived and we had an armada. The had nuclear weapons and we laughed as we ate their bombs, inhaling the radiation like they did with helium. When we arrived they had greeted us like gods, crowds of worshipers and cameras. They had their army ready but they certainly didn’t look special. We had laser guns that could leave nothing but red and green bones behind, they still used gunpowder. So we shot a birdie that apparently had ment peace, a laughable concept, and slaughtered the gathering. And even after that they had tried to negotiate peace! To give credit where it’s due, it was impressive to see them build a translator for our language that has so many subtleties in both pitch and tone. But still it was amusing to destroy their monuments and to see them flee as we had our way with their world. We didn’t realize however, the power of voice. Humans are capable of reaching pitches so high that they can shatter glass and even the resonant frequency of our brains. When this was discovered we swiftly found ourselves on the back foot. No Martian left on that rock was given quarter and even now they reverse engineer our ships and hunt us down. All the while they play that hunting song known as yodeling. I hear them now faintly through the door, the music would be beautiful if I didn’t feel my brain ripple even from here. So I leave this in memory of my species, should the humans see this know I hate you and that we should have blown up your planet when we had the chance. Should others see this I leave you some parting words: ACK ACKACK ACk ACK ACK!!!
[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 Terrans had built Universities, hospitals, revolutionized inter-stellar commerce. They worked as ambassadors to negotiate peace and trade deals amongst the galactic community. Their few colonies built on out of the way unhospitable worlds. Their fleet was made of trade vessels, science ships, and pleasure yachts. They had a reputation as bringers of peace, knowledge, and healing. Then came the Garanzan incident. The Garanzan we new to the interstellar community, warlike, domineering, and powerful. Their armada outnumbered the combined forces of the allied races, they conquered whole worlds in a matter of days. When the Garanzan entered Melcap space the Melcap reached out Humanity to help negotiate a peace settlement. The Terrans send their premier ambassador to an arranged peace conference hosted by the Melcap. The entire Garanzan fleet showed up to the appointed meeting station and murdered the Melcap and Terran diplomats and broadcast the gruesome killings across known space. Three days later another Terran ambassador was dispatched to to the Garanzan home world with a single message. "Cease all hostilities at once or the United Terran Forces will declare war on the Garanzan." The Garanzan's sent back his head as a declaration of war. The Garanzan turned their fleets from the Melcap and attacked all known Terran colonies. For six months the Garanzan attacked and butchered humans ill equipped to fight against such military might. But even those fights became brutal battles against insurgencies, suicide attacks, and desperate counter attacks all meant to buy time. While the Allied races stood by and watched they knew Humanities time on the intergalactic stage was up. The Garanzan were too powerful, too numerous, and too blood thirsty to be stopped. Then came Terran Armada. After half of year of holding actions and watching their people die humanity struck back. The Garanzan were assaulting the human space platform Excalibur, a human outpost built for the Alliance to foster learning, trade and diplomacy. The station was a bastion of learning, commerce, and the best hospital in known space. Excalibur station was a massive installation of over one hundred thousand humans. The Garanzan saw the station as a monument to Terran weakness. General Gaulfluax recounts that day; "I ordered targeting on the facilities power generators to bring down their pitiful shields and allow our boarding craft to send reavers onto the station." "I had lead the campaign on the Ceti 4 colony and knew there would be heavy if ineffectual resistance. The humans were inventive and tenacious, but no match for reavers in full battle armor. I wanted to take the station as intact as possible to plunder it's technology. Humans were weak but their technology was far ahead of ours in terms of medicine and science." "Just as the shields faltered and I ordered the attack craft away a massive energy surge was reported above my fleet. A full Terran battle group emerged from space fold in perfect attack formation. You laugh now, but we had no clue then what we were up against." "Admiral McMullen opened hail to my ship and delivered an ultimatum. 'Surrender now or face destruction, you have 3 minutes' and signed off. I laughed, what could a single battle group do against my entire fleet. I stopped laughing after our assault craft were blown out of stars." "Have you every seen a Saturn Knight tear an assault craft apart? They use quantum energy blasts to take down our shields and then just rip the ships apart with their lances. And they can deploy dozens of them, each so small you can't see them on the scopes, I don't know how they do it." "Worse is the main cannon's on their assault ships, an energy beam a mile wide and ten miles long that annihilates anything in it's path. My fleet was torn to shreds after the first volley. To think all it took was six months to build such powerful weapons." General Gaulflaux surrendered after seven and a half minutes of combat. His fleet lost ninety percent of it's ships. The Terran vessels suffered zero losses. After the formal declaration of war Humanity reconstituted it's naval academy and repurposed and expanded the Mars foundries into an orbital ship yard capable of producing the massive warship in under a month. Marines were dispatched to colony worlds knowing they'd never return home to hold back the tides and buy humanity the time it needed to build a fleet capable of taking down the Garanzan. It happened all across the Garanzan empire. Terran battle groups would spacefold into attack position, demand surrender and open fire if no response was given. The Terran war machine turned out ships and crews at such a rate that their enemies were out numbered in just over two years of war. Terran Ambassadors now travel on small naval warships and are flanked at diplomatic events by Saturn Knights. The Terran Armada provides security across a thousand systems. And the Garanzan, they are slowly rebuilding their society with the assistance of the Terran Peace Corp.	We thought that we knew what we were doing. They had barely made it to their own moon before we had arrived and we had an armada. The had nuclear weapons and we laughed as we ate their bombs, inhaling the radiation like they did with helium. When we arrived they had greeted us like gods, crowds of worshipers and cameras. They had their army ready but they certainly didn’t look special. We had laser guns that could leave nothing but red and green bones behind, they still used gunpowder. So we shot a birdie that apparently had ment peace, a laughable concept, and slaughtered the gathering. And even after that they had tried to negotiate peace! To give credit where it’s due, it was impressive to see them build a translator for our language that has so many subtleties in both pitch and tone. But still it was amusing to destroy their monuments and to see them flee as we had our way with their world. We didn’t realize however, the power of voice. Humans are capable of reaching pitches so high that they can shatter glass and even the resonant frequency of our brains. When this was discovered we swiftly found ourselves on the back foot. No Martian left on that rock was given quarter and even now they reverse engineer our ships and hunt us down. All the while they play that hunting song known as yodeling. I hear them now faintly through the door, the music would be beautiful if I didn’t feel my brain ripple even from here. So I leave this in memory of my species, should the humans see this know I hate you and that we should have blown up your planet when we had the chance. Should others see this I leave you some parting words: ACK ACKACK ACk ACK ACK!!!
[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	"One Earthling, diplomat. How can you justify this madness on account of one sole Earthling?" The human stretched its angular limbs and considered the battlefield. Outside the star vessel lay our fleet. In ruins. I could see soldiers floating in the void of space, frozen solid as rock, all with the same expression on their faces: pure horror. "Don't say we didn't warn you, Xehemultran." Humans had domesticated themselves, turned themselves into pets; it was common knowledge. That was why they did not want to participate in galactic conflicts, that was why they were considered the ultimate neutral species. Diplomacy and trifles, words and empty gestures. Everyone knew humans did not fight. So how could this have happened? "This is sheer insanity. You have murdered billions. You have eradicated entire civilizations." "Yup." The human fidgeted with a finger inside its mouth, cleaning out some gunk. "All of this for Bella? Do you consider this destruction to be worth it?" "Oh, absolutely." I shook my heads. "She was not even a human." "Correct," said the Earthling. He pointed his weapon at me. "She was a cat." Expressionless, the human pulled the trigger.	We thought that we knew what we were doing. They had barely made it to their own moon before we had arrived and we had an armada. The had nuclear weapons and we laughed as we ate their bombs, inhaling the radiation like they did with helium. When we arrived they had greeted us like gods, crowds of worshipers and cameras. They had their army ready but they certainly didn’t look special. We had laser guns that could leave nothing but red and green bones behind, they still used gunpowder. So we shot a birdie that apparently had ment peace, a laughable concept, and slaughtered the gathering. And even after that they had tried to negotiate peace! To give credit where it’s due, it was impressive to see them build a translator for our language that has so many subtleties in both pitch and tone. But still it was amusing to destroy their monuments and to see them flee as we had our way with their world. We didn’t realize however, the power of voice. Humans are capable of reaching pitches so high that they can shatter glass and even the resonant frequency of our brains. When this was discovered we swiftly found ourselves on the back foot. No Martian left on that rock was given quarter and even now they reverse engineer our ships and hunt us down. All the while they play that hunting song known as yodeling. I hear them now faintly through the door, the music would be beautiful if I didn’t feel my brain ripple even from here. So I leave this in memory of my species, should the humans see this know I hate you and that we should have blown up your planet when we had the chance. Should others see this I leave you some parting words: ACK ACKACK ACk ACK ACK!!!
[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	Log 1.01 - 6462/55 Potential major new biodiversity harvest, Arm 4, stellar coordinates \[classified\]. Approximately 9 million identifiable species, DNA-based. Minor indigenous sapience, no world government, hive mind, or cybernetic control. Not even common language. 1.02 - 6462/56 Received message from imperial satrap, Council of Entities agrees with assessment, harvest of new world moved to top priority, codename Project Windfall. Biodiversity loss on Zor homeworlds considerably graver than generally leaked to non-Council Entities, new harvests to take priority over inorganic material harvests. Changing course to Windfall. 2.01 - 6462/87 Reached Windfall. Harvester ships Ixin, Cath, Roklut expected to arrive by 90-91. Recon drones deployed. 2.02 - 6462/89 Recon drones confirm probe drone. Massive biodiversity lode plus abundant liquid water. No organized opposition. Indigenous sapience in form of tribal/social primates, greater native intelligence than any other non-Zor species yet encountered, rudimentary AI capabilities, but most advanced capabilities used to fight other members of same species. Most advanced weapons are fission type, they hesitate to use them on one another only due to threat of retaliation in kind, but still an impressive accomplishment for a species with no guiding central authority. Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, will set aside additional share of the most bountiful harvest in the last millennium for the Zor if he'll sponsor additional seat on Council of Entities. 2.03 - 6462/92 Harvester ships arrived. Commencing harvest of Windfall. 2.04 - 6462/99 Native primate technology as expected is no match for ours. Multiple ape social colonies ("cities") razed and harvested. Resistance fierce but ineffective. 3.01 - 6462/120 Harvest progressing but slower than expected. Native primates behave in substantially unanticipated ways exposed to new stimuli. No significant trouble expected but we should perhaps pay attention to their social reaction complex as interesting in its own right, not mere biodiversity in a universe in which that always appears to be shrinking. 3.02 - 6462/160 Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, harvest can progress as things stand but additional armed escorts would assist. Native primates ("humans," they call themselves) demonstrate substantial adaptive capabilities, particularly with respect to martial capabilities. As you are aware, our weapons cannot be used by nonmembers of our species due to DNA coding that makes all our weapons cease function if held by an entity not of our species. In less than 50 days, these "humans" came up with the barbarous but effective adaptation of making gloves out of our skins, allowing them to hold our weapons and turn them against us. 3.03 - 6462/161 Humans merit further study after skin-stealing adaptation. Harvested multiple of their soldiers, of various ages, intact. Placed in stasis for further study. 3.04 - 6462/197 Almost all standard harvest protocols for problematic biodiversity surprisingly ineffective with respect to humans. Already considering resorting to Cleanser virus but degradation of the biodiversity haul of Windfall would substantially impair strategic objectives of harvest in the first place. 3.05 - 6462/249 Human population ongoing adaptation proving dangerous. Multiple counteroffensives and countermeasures somehow initiated spontaneously, imitating coordination with no coordinating authority or intelligence. Spontaneous organization of species-wide resistance including against orbital and ecological attacks. Apologies to the Council of Entities, but we cannot leave them alive. Initiating Cleanser virus, programming human DNA as primary target but DNA similarity of human and other biodiversity on this planet means harvest will be dramatically curtailed. 3.06 - 6462/259 - URGENT Cleanser virus largely successful but significant populations of humans remain alive. Moreover, those left alive appear to have sequenced and adapted it to attack us, somehow in the space of ten days. Expeditionary force and harvesters have withdrawn to ships. Will proceed with battle against humans and harvest Windfall with drone tech alone. Analysis at this point is pessimistic; drone tech alone unlikely to prevail given chaotic but frenetic adaptation of human species so far against Cleanser and other rogue biodiversity countermeasures. 4.01 - 6262/272 - URGENT Developing incident in progress in stasis chamber, unscheduled maintenance mode activations, emergency termination sequence malfunctioning. Human soldier prisoners may be loose onboard. 4.02 - 6462/272 - URGENT They are coming. Initiating self destruct. 5.01 - July 3, 2077 - YEAH, PROBABLY STILL URGENT Cool log. Looks like the self-destruct failed though. That kinda sucks. Sucks that we had to use your harvest ships to harvest the remains of most of our own cities, too, but there wasn't much left of them and at least your little flying factories helped us jumpstart our own fleet with all the metal of our old cities. Gotta live somewhere. And the view of Earth from space is still majestic even if y'all fucked it up on the surface. Oh, also, if you're reading this, just FYI ... we're still coming. Got nothing else to do now, and payback's a bitch. Signed, Humanity.	We thought that we knew what we were doing. They had barely made it to their own moon before we had arrived and we had an armada. The had nuclear weapons and we laughed as we ate their bombs, inhaling the radiation like they did with helium. When we arrived they had greeted us like gods, crowds of worshipers and cameras. They had their army ready but they certainly didn’t look special. We had laser guns that could leave nothing but red and green bones behind, they still used gunpowder. So we shot a birdie that apparently had ment peace, a laughable concept, and slaughtered the gathering. And even after that they had tried to negotiate peace! To give credit where it’s due, it was impressive to see them build a translator for our language that has so many subtleties in both pitch and tone. But still it was amusing to destroy their monuments and to see them flee as we had our way with their world. We didn’t realize however, the power of voice. Humans are capable of reaching pitches so high that they can shatter glass and even the resonant frequency of our brains. When this was discovered we swiftly found ourselves on the back foot. No Martian left on that rock was given quarter and even now they reverse engineer our ships and hunt us down. All the while they play that hunting song known as yodeling. I hear them now faintly through the door, the music would be beautiful if I didn’t feel my brain ripple even from here. So I leave this in memory of my species, should the humans see this know I hate you and that we should have blown up your planet when we had the chance. Should others see this I leave you some parting words: ACK ACKACK ACk ACK ACK!!!
[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 still remember the look on Ambassador Ford’s (Betelgeusean Republic’s representative to the former Galactic Councils 300 BT – 5 TA) face when I informed him we had declared war on the pathetic Humans of the Terran Federation. His blue blood drained from his face, leaving a dirty yellow visage which had previously shone a healthy green. The only thing he said was ‘What have you done?’ which I thought wwas just due to Betelgeusean fondness for the cowardly pacifistic species. If only we had known the truth…” – Gragtun’iik’iill, Former Krillnean Ambassador to the Galactic Councils 89 BT – 7 BT Warfare has changed very little since the first slightly complex multicellular organisms began banding together to fight one another over limited resources. The equation generally comes down to who can out produce the other in manpower, supplies, or weapons. For as terrifying and powerful a new weapon system may be, it can still be outclassed by sheer volume. At the dawn of the Terran Alliance, a heavily modified version of this calculation was in use to determine the general effectiveness of galactic empires. The weapon system of the day, as for most navies throughout history, was the battleship. Advanced civilizations, such as The Betelgeusean Republic, were capable of building, crewing, and launching these behemoths in only 50 cycles. In 10 BT the rising Krillnean Empire felt that their armada, while small on the galactic scale, would be well equipped to destroy the peace loving, ever negotiating, Terran Federation. Afterall Terra had only 20 battleships in service, and had not completed a new such vessel in over 150 cycles. Krillnea was able to produce a vessel in as few as 80 cycles, and had a standing navy of over 500 ships. Additionally, due to the sensitive and specialized nature of the systems on board a starship, let alone a warship, a certain level of training and experience was required. This training and practical experience was extremely costly, and could take dozens of cycles for a Human to acquire, but for the long-lived children of the Krillnean Hives, born to carry out specific tasks, it was simple. The game of numbers, it seemed, was decided. As war commenced, the humans fought bravely to defend their colonies, but the numbers were against them. The Terran Fleet was destroyed in combat around Proxima Centauri, and colonies fell one after another. The Krillnean Armada advanced methodically, but sustained a far higher rate of losses than initially expected, which while concerning, was overshadowed by the rapid advance to the Human’s home system of Sol. The Battle of Sol (7 BT) was a turning point in the evolution of warfare. Standard practice had been to harvest asteroid, moons, rocky planetoids, and anything available for raw materials to process into Space Ship components. This took time, capital, and abundant resources. With the main Terran shipyards destroyed, and with access to her colonies cut off, the Terran Federation appeared to be teetering on extinction. What the Krillnean armada encountered upon entering the Sol system was not a scrambling mass of scared civilians, but a star system that had been entirely strip mined, and a brand new, incredibly massive fleet of “Warships” waiting for them. The Sol system had always been considered somewhat of an anomaly. It had not one but two asteroid belts surrounding it, one of which harbored several larger planetoids. While these raw materials would have been a boon to most industries, the density of the belts in Sol made harvesting these resources a very laborious and risky endeavor. Even then, those resources would need to be refined methodically, and carefully to ensure no errant debris might strike a vessel or colony, and standard practice was to dump the empty husks of these asteroids into the nearest star, where it may safely be consumed. The Terran Federation had several larger asteroids in stable orbits near their home planet of Earth, most were completely devoid of usable material and were merely awaiting their turn to be sent sunward. For Humanity they became salvation. Instead of building a warship from scratch, Terran engineers crawled over these husks, fitting them with reactors, weapons systems, thrusters, and crude life support systems. When manpower turned out to be lacking, regular civilians pitched in to help, many of them having never performed a spacewalk or heavy construction previously. In total, over 600 such “vessels” were created over the span of a single cycle. Numerous other smaller asteroids were converted into unguided missiles, whose mass proved so effective at defeating point defense and shield systems that they are still in use today. The Krillnean armada of 573 ships and 6-8 million souls was entirely obliterated. While not particularly agile or comfortable, the extremely basic nature of the human warships allowed them to survive attacks from the latest weapons systems, usually with little to no adverse effects. In fact, during the Battle of Sol, the total Terran losses were 237,000 personnel across 7 ships destroyed, and 13 damaged. The Battle of Sol set the stage for the fall of the Galactic Council. As the Terran Federation reestablished control of her colonies and continued the fight towards the Krillnean home worlds, they continued to refine, improve, and produce their new class of vessels. Long since superseded by newer classes of warship, the Nemesis class battleships are still the most decorated vessels in the history of the Terran Alliance. The Nemesis, first of her class, is still in use today and has the honor of being not only the ship which fired the first shot at the Battle of Sol, but also the vessel which destroyed the last enemy ship during the War of Unification between the Terran Federation and the Galactic Councils.	We thought that we knew what we were doing. They had barely made it to their own moon before we had arrived and we had an armada. The had nuclear weapons and we laughed as we ate their bombs, inhaling the radiation like they did with helium. When we arrived they had greeted us like gods, crowds of worshipers and cameras. They had their army ready but they certainly didn’t look special. We had laser guns that could leave nothing but red and green bones behind, they still used gunpowder. So we shot a birdie that apparently had ment peace, a laughable concept, and slaughtered the gathering. And even after that they had tried to negotiate peace! To give credit where it’s due, it was impressive to see them build a translator for our language that has so many subtleties in both pitch and tone. But still it was amusing to destroy their monuments and to see them flee as we had our way with their world. We didn’t realize however, the power of voice. Humans are capable of reaching pitches so high that they can shatter glass and even the resonant frequency of our brains. When this was discovered we swiftly found ourselves on the back foot. No Martian left on that rock was given quarter and even now they reverse engineer our ships and hunt us down. All the while they play that hunting song known as yodeling. I hear them now faintly through the door, the music would be beautiful if I didn’t feel my brain ripple even from here. So I leave this in memory of my species, should the humans see this know I hate you and that we should have blown up your planet when we had the chance. Should others see this I leave you some parting words: ACK ACKACK ACk ACK ACK!!!
[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	“Examiner, have you reached any conclusions?” The holo-video lit up in the center of the laboratory. The face of Preator Endex filled the void in the center of the room. “Yes. Praetor. The specimen you provided was intact enough to draw a conclusion,” Examiner Zendex replied. “If I may ask, how was such a faultless specimen procured?” “By accident, Examiner.” Zendex could hear the embarrassment in the Preator’s voice. The Klee were notorious for their ability to plan. To have a complete human specimen simply fall into their possession as an act of luck was an insult to the Praetor’s ability to calculate probable outcomes. Still, it was likely that the additional information to be gleaned from studying a full anatomy could very well prove the turning of the war. “I see.” Zendex obfuscated his disapproval outwardly, while in actual fact he was enjoying the Praetor’s discomfort. No less than twelve successors to the current Praetor had all tried to turn the tide of the galactic conflict. Over fifty cycles, and none had succeeded. For all his braggadocio, Praetor Endex had proven equally incapable of mastering the necessary variables to overcome this foe. Not that it wasn’t a complex problem…. “Please, state your conclusion, then propose the underlying premises,” the Praetor encouraged. “Of course,” Zendex paused, wondering if the magnitude of his discoveries would be fully communicated, much less appreciated by the greater Klee protectorate. “The additional information gleaned from this specimen leads to the conclusion that this war will be over in less than two cycles.” The Praetor bared his mandibles in a sign of satisfaction. “Ah, we have it then. What is your margin of error?” The Examiner balked. To ask the question of an Examiner of such high esteem was almost an insult. “Within the ninety ninth percentile, Praetor.” “Then by all means, state your premises.” It was customary in Klee society to state the conclusion of an encounter first, then reveal the necessary background information informing the deduction. To save on the need for pointless interactions, a subordinate would typically accept the conclusions of an Elder. This was given to the Klee’s exceptional ability to calculate probabilities into several dimensions of thinking. To inquire into the basis for a deduction was to show interest, and thus respect, for the proponent of the conclusion. The Praetor was clearly showing great respect for the Examiner’s presentation. Such deference deserved a thorough exhibition. “I direct your attention to the specimen, Praetor.” The lifeless body of the pale human lay limply on the examining table, its various entrails and organs neatly stacked in a small row next to it. “As you can see from the scorian readout, the Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Muscular and Renal systems of these humans are typical of a class four evolutionary primateon species. Other than the digestive systems ability to vacate a surprising number of toxins, these systems are rather unremarkable...” The presentation continued, analyzing each biological strength and weakness in turn. The Praetor patiently listened. The Klee had conquered thousands of species in galactic combat. No race had been able to withstand their superior minds, being able to calculate and adapt to thousands of permutations and possible outcomes. And so it was supposed to be a simple conquest of this backward human world. Their superior numbers and technology obvious, the Klee had offered the humans a dignified surrender almost simultaneously with their invasion. The Klee war counsel had noted that the humans preferred to rely on diplomacy, which loosely translated basically meant mutual surrender, with neither side a victor. Words were a decent enough tool to fend off aggression in some cases. But without the might to back up those words … the Klee knew better. Despite its 1,000 years of peace with its neighbors, the Klee knew that no diplomacy would be enough to prevent Earth’s capture. At least, they thought they knew. Despite the analytical approach to the invasion, this unremarkable species had left cataclysmic destruction in its wake. Generally, an intergalactic war took one, maybe two cycles to conclude, especially when victory from one side or the other was all but assured. Once both sides concluded that victory was inevitable, a ceremonial surrender was typical. But the current conflict had lasted over fifty cycles, and the waste of resources had nearly drained the empire into insolvency. It wouldn’t be long until the outer systems calculated weakness… These humans did not conform to any known parameters. In most conflicts, multiple circumstances could be calculated, reevaluated, predicted. But not humans. In one iteration, humans would behave conservatively, almost to a fault. Giving ground even when obvious advantages could clearly be seized. In other encounters, they displayed a recklessness and ferocity known only among the unevolved. Fifty cycles later and they were just as impossible to predict as the day the Klee invaded Earth. The Earth invasion was a disaster by any tactical standard. It had been studied, reanalyzed, reinterpreted. But no solid conclusions could be reached. Upon landfall, the humans initially reacted as any other class four primateon. Family units hiding in fear. Communications disrupted. Military responses disorganized. And then, as if signaled by a Praetorean elite, something changed. The humans responded with the ferociousness and recklessness of an unevolved reptile or arachnid. Forces were marshaled imperfectly, but effectively. Counter offensives with no seeming probability of victory nevertheless succeeded. And once some Klee technology was in the hands of the enemy, the situation went all downsystem. Native humans with no military training whatsoever were taking up munitions and retaliating with no regard to their own existence. Elite human units advanced TOWARD certain death. By the time the provisional government envoy arrived to impose judicial order, the humans had routed all 36 expeditionary squads, including the capital ships. How in the nexus they even got up to the fleet centers remains a mystery, as human technology simply wasn’t advanced past placing geosynchronous communicators in their own orbit. To add insult, the humans used the captured fleet to commandeer the undefended bureaucratic envoy just after its arrival. And then? Then they repurposed the envoy to proclaim victory, making the Klee administrative apparatus assume the planet was in conquered status. It wasn’t until a whole cycle had passed until the Klee elite had noticed there wasn’t any tribute. But by then it was too late. The humans had adapted to the technology quickly. Not just to seize and use it, but also perverting Klee technology to suit their own destructive ends. From there, forty-nine cycles of interstellar destruction and chaos across entire systems. Unlike other space-faring species, the humans seem to have no respect for cosmic order. It is as if they must repurpose the universe itself to match their fleeting lifespan. They damage anything in their path to achieve even minor victories. Anger toward a conqueror was to be expected. But the patterns appeared to demonstrate a malice toward the Klee that could not have been predicted from an evolved species. Using space folding technology, they used a Klee warp engine to fold out the orbit of a key military installation, shifting it into the path of a black hole, and damaging the habitability of three separate colonies. They strapped fusion reactors onto refueling pylons and sent them back into the prime nexus, haphazardly destroying or crippling thirteen production outposts. In one engagement, a system neighboring a production facility with no military value was completely destroyed, a seemingly pointless act. But worst of all, in every encounter their soldiers and pilots show no regard whatsoever for their own personal safety, at times letting loose fission and fusion weapons of their own design, which spread fallout throughout half the Klee protectorate. It has made the end of the conflict nearly impossible to manage.	We thought that we knew what we were doing. They had barely made it to their own moon before we had arrived and we had an armada. The had nuclear weapons and we laughed as we ate their bombs, inhaling the radiation like they did with helium. When we arrived they had greeted us like gods, crowds of worshipers and cameras. They had their army ready but they certainly didn’t look special. We had laser guns that could leave nothing but red and green bones behind, they still used gunpowder. So we shot a birdie that apparently had ment peace, a laughable concept, and slaughtered the gathering. And even after that they had tried to negotiate peace! To give credit where it’s due, it was impressive to see them build a translator for our language that has so many subtleties in both pitch and tone. But still it was amusing to destroy their monuments and to see them flee as we had our way with their world. We didn’t realize however, the power of voice. Humans are capable of reaching pitches so high that they can shatter glass and even the resonant frequency of our brains. When this was discovered we swiftly found ourselves on the back foot. No Martian left on that rock was given quarter and even now they reverse engineer our ships and hunt us down. All the while they play that hunting song known as yodeling. I hear them now faintly through the door, the music would be beautiful if I didn’t feel my brain ripple even from here. So I leave this in memory of my species, should the humans see this know I hate you and that we should have blown up your planet when we had the chance. Should others see this I leave you some parting words: ACK ACKACK ACk ACK ACK!!!
[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	“Examiner, have you reached any conclusions?” The holo-video lit up in the center of the laboratory. The face of Preator Endex filled the void in the center of the room. “Yes. Praetor. The specimen you provided was intact enough to draw a conclusion,” Examiner Zendex replied. “If I may ask, how was such a faultless specimen procured?” “By accident, Examiner.” Zendex could hear the embarrassment in the Preator’s voice. The Klee were notorious for their ability to plan. To have a complete human specimen simply fall into their possession as an act of luck was an insult to the Praetor’s ability to calculate probable outcomes. Still, it was likely that the additional information to be gleaned from studying a full anatomy could very well prove the turning of the war. “I see.” Zendex obfuscated his disapproval outwardly, while in actual fact he was enjoying the Praetor’s discomfort. No less than twelve successors to the current Praetor had all tried to turn the tide of the galactic conflict. Over fifty cycles, and none had succeeded. For all his braggadocio, Praetor Endex had proven equally incapable of mastering the necessary variables to overcome this foe. Not that it wasn’t a complex problem…. “Please, state your conclusion, then propose the underlying premises,” the Praetor encouraged. “Of course,” Zendex paused, wondering if the magnitude of his discoveries would be fully communicated, much less appreciated by the greater Klee protectorate. “The additional information gleaned from this specimen leads to the conclusion that this war will be over in less than two cycles.” The Praetor bared his mandibles in a sign of satisfaction. “Ah, we have it then. What is your margin of error?” The Examiner balked. To ask the question of an Examiner of such high esteem was almost an insult. “Within the ninety ninth percentile, Praetor.” “Then by all means, state your premises.” It was customary in Klee society to state the conclusion of an encounter first, then reveal the necessary background information informing the deduction. To save on the need for pointless interactions, a subordinate would typically accept the conclusions of an Elder. This was given to the Klee’s exceptional ability to calculate probabilities into several dimensions of thinking. To inquire into the basis for a deduction was to show interest, and thus respect, for the proponent of the conclusion. The Praetor was clearly showing great respect for the Examiner’s presentation. Such deference deserved a thorough exhibition. “I direct your attention to the specimen, Praetor.” The lifeless body of the pale human lay limply on the examining table, its various entrails and organs neatly stacked in a small row next to it. “As you can see from the scorian readout, the Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Muscular and Renal systems of these humans are typical of a class four evolutionary primateon species. Other than the digestive systems ability to vacate a surprising number of toxins, these systems are rather unremarkable...” The presentation continued, analyzing each biological strength and weakness in turn. The Praetor patiently listened. The Klee had conquered thousands of species in galactic combat. No race had been able to withstand their superior minds, being able to calculate and adapt to thousands of permutations and possible outcomes. And so it was supposed to be a simple conquest of this backward human world. Their superior numbers and technology obvious, the Klee had offered the humans a dignified surrender almost simultaneously with their invasion. The Klee war counsel had noted that the humans preferred to rely on diplomacy, which loosely translated basically meant mutual surrender, with neither side a victor. Words were a decent enough tool to fend off aggression in some cases. But without the might to back up those words … the Klee knew better. Despite its 1,000 years of peace with its neighbors, the Klee knew that no diplomacy would be enough to prevent Earth’s capture. At least, they thought they knew. Despite the analytical approach to the invasion, this unremarkable species had left cataclysmic destruction in its wake. Generally, an intergalactic war took one, maybe two cycles to conclude, especially when victory from one side or the other was all but assured. Once both sides concluded that victory was inevitable, a ceremonial surrender was typical. But the current conflict had lasted over fifty cycles, and the waste of resources had nearly drained the empire into insolvency. It wouldn’t be long until the outer systems calculated weakness… These humans did not conform to any known parameters. In most conflicts, multiple circumstances could be calculated, reevaluated, predicted. But not humans. In one iteration, humans would behave conservatively, almost to a fault. Giving ground even when obvious advantages could clearly be seized. In other encounters, they displayed a recklessness and ferocity known only among the unevolved. Fifty cycles later and they were just as impossible to predict as the day the Klee invaded Earth. The Earth invasion was a disaster by any tactical standard. It had been studied, reanalyzed, reinterpreted. But no solid conclusions could be reached. Upon landfall, the humans initially reacted as any other class four primateon. Family units hiding in fear. Communications disrupted. Military responses disorganized. And then, as if signaled by a Praetorean elite, something changed. The humans responded with the ferociousness and recklessness of an unevolved reptile or arachnid. Forces were marshaled imperfectly, but effectively. Counter offensives with no seeming probability of victory nevertheless succeeded. And once some Klee technology was in the hands of the enemy, the situation went all downsystem. Native humans with no military training whatsoever were taking up munitions and retaliating with no regard to their own existence. Elite human units advanced TOWARD certain death. By the time the provisional government envoy arrived to impose judicial order, the humans had routed all 36 expeditionary squads, including the capital ships. How in the nexus they even got up to the fleet centers remains a mystery, as human technology simply wasn’t advanced past placing geosynchronous communicators in their own orbit. To add insult, the humans used the captured fleet to commandeer the undefended bureaucratic envoy just after its arrival. And then? Then they repurposed the envoy to proclaim victory, making the Klee administrative apparatus assume the planet was in conquered status. It wasn’t until a whole cycle had passed until the Klee elite had noticed there wasn’t any tribute. But by then it was too late. The humans had adapted to the technology quickly. Not just to seize and use it, but also perverting Klee technology to suit their own destructive ends. From there, forty-nine cycles of interstellar destruction and chaos across entire systems. Unlike other space-faring species, the humans seem to have no respect for cosmic order. It is as if they must repurpose the universe itself to match their fleeting lifespan. They damage anything in their path to achieve even minor victories. Anger toward a conqueror was to be expected. But the patterns appeared to demonstrate a malice toward the Klee that could not have been predicted from an evolved species. Using space folding technology, they used a Klee warp engine to fold out the orbit of a key military installation, shifting it into the path of a black hole, and damaging the habitability of three separate colonies. They strapped fusion reactors onto refueling pylons and sent them back into the prime nexus, haphazardly destroying or crippling thirteen production outposts. In one engagement, a system neighboring a production facility with no military value was completely destroyed, a seemingly pointless act. But worst of all, in every encounter their soldiers and pilots show no regard whatsoever for their own personal safety, at times letting loose fission and fusion weapons of their own design, which spread fallout throughout half the Klee protectorate. It has made the end of the conflict nearly impossible to manage.	"We have no claimed that we were peaceful." Tobias said, a firm hand grasping the flag of the final human lands, the other curling tight around the hilt of his gun. It had been a long battle. A fight that took the lives of many brothers, fathers, and uncles. "I warned you. I told you that this war was pointless, that we would find a way to break free from you." Tobias jutted a finger in the Gamorians faces. For so long, the Garmorians were once their allies, their brothers in conflict. But that all changed with the underhanded tactics the Garmorians had used - had wielded to enslave the human race the moment an opportunity presented itself. It was just a moment of weakness. A lapsed of judgement on their behalf. They had trusted their friends from afar - the shared understanding. "I told you this - we will never give up." Tobias raised the gun in his hand. "I said that we would fight to the bitter end for our people." The gun weighed a millions tons as Tobias laid the barrel on the temple of his so-called brother. Al-fak, the man he'd thought he'd come to trust, to believe in, merely raised a groggy head, an eye turning over the field of dead filled with his people. "You told me you had no weapons against us." That had been a lie, of course. It was always a lie. Tobias cocked his gun. "A true leader would hide his last resort from invading beings." "A true friend would've been honest from the beginning." Al-fak said. "A 'real' friend, would've chose a different path than this." Tobias fought the whimper of sadness in his tone but failed to. Al-fak could only inhale sharply. He knew he was beaten the moment he'd attacked first. He'd bombed the hell out of the largest country on earth, and when his crew celebrated the fires that had burned, he'd lamented his decision. It had all been a sham from the beginning. From his first descent onto the world, he'd had his orders from the monarch that held his leash. He was to gain their trust, to gain their acceptance and then betray them - turning the planet into their new settlement. He will admit to a falter in his decision. When he'd first met Tobias, his compassion and kindness was a jarring experience that clouded his judgemeny. He'd thought it would be an easy task. A quick task. But he was wrong. The humans had known war better than the Garmorians. They had a better understanding of the cost for it. The pain it brought. The people it sacrificed... "Close your eyes," Tobias said. It was the only kindness he'd allow. Especially with the crowd of soldiers watching him. So, Al-fak did. He'd shut his eyelids tight and murmured his final words to his friend, "I'm sorry."
[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 universe exists in the middle of an explosion. Billions of stars burn and then shed their matter across the void as they burn out. Our species developed from that matter to rule. We clawed our way out of our gravity well and fought any other species that dared to join us in space. Until we came across humans. They are tiny compared to us. Fragile. Insignificant. They cannot bear the energy of stars without protection, even on their world. The void crushes them outside their gravity well, so they developed shelters to explore from. We tore those shelters to pieces before we even recognized what they were. They struck back using matter, which we ignored. They struck back using energy, which annoyed us. Then they struck back using stars. How did such insignificant things harness the power of stars? Somehow they can create them at will. We lost an entire colony in their system before we realized what had happened. Then the war began in earnest. We had fought all others into submission yet could not stop humans. They were too small. Kill one, and a million come next. They breed faster than any other thinking creatures we have found and can live on useless scraps of matter. They fear nothing. We thought to keep them isolated in their system, but an infestation of them hid on our ship until it reached our home. They exploited our infrastructure and used what they could steal to sustain their colony. In that short time, their numbers grew exponentially, and they learned our ways. Once we arrived home, they used that knowledge to ignite suns all over the system to damaging effect. My homeworld is completely overrun now. No one can help me. I write this last message as my orbit decays into the sun. Do not fight humans. They are war.	In the year 2100, humanity finally achieved global peace. It was not an easy task. It took several wars, hundreds of crisises, 20 billion deaths and climate change but eventually the remaining humans learned to coexist peacefully. The 22nd century was seen as the greatest golden age in human history, a century of prosperity and development for all of humanity undivided by race, gender, or geography. It was also this century that saw humanity emerge as a multiplanatory species. Colonizing Mars, Pluto and everything in between. The next four centuries saw further expansion of the human race and by the time the Universal sentient Council found out about them, their numbers were in the hundreds of trillions and they had an entire galaxy to call as their own. This meant that when they joined the council, they were already high in the pecking order as many other species were much smaller in power and numbers alike. However, there were still more than a dozen species that could entirely decimate the humans and a handful who were their equals. The Council had existed for nearly 3000 years, yet they had never seen a race like the humans. They were wary of humans at first, but soon learned that these were some of the most pacifist creatures in the universe. Not only did they never have internal conflicts which even the strongest species were prone to, but their skill in statecraft, politics and diplomacy meant they never had to take to the battlefield. In 500 years, humans had grown quite a bit in stature and importance in the council. So much so that they could prevent a war between the junior races merely by their words. Yet for all their glory, they had also earned the disdain of others. Some species knew only war. They saw the reluctance of humans to take up arms not as an admirable trait, but a sign of weakness. The top three species, the Andromeins, the Saxofys, and the Yurnkilians were not happy to lose their influence to the upjumped humans. They had fighting constantly for power and influence in the council for millennium, often making the other species fight proxy wars on their behalf. It was why they kept expanding the council, to have more species to influence. They were three rival factions, and it was a known fact that you had to join one of them or you ended up earning their enmity. Apparently the humans never learned that. They were making their own faction now. Emerging as a fourth side in this power struggle and more and more species were now following their lead. It was frustrating and made the Three Great Species as they were often called, angry as hell. They decided to do something they had never done in their milenium long history, they formed an alliance. Each one was strong enough to destroy the humans on their own, but together, the whole thing would take no longer than a week. And so it was. On 4th June, 3019 AD, the Milky Way was invaded for the first time. The advanced warships made quick work of the defenses and the frontiers of the galaxy fell within a day. The humans did not resort to diplomacy this time. They did not even attend the council meetings from that day forth. Simply sending a message: you have made your last mistake. These words would be proven true in a mere week. For that is exactly how long it took for the Great Species to learn the truth of humanity. They had not fought a war in nearly a millennium, and thus had restrained bloodlust running through their veins. When war broke out, every single human, rich or poor, young or old, boy or girl, earthling or a colonist, EVERYONE decided to fight. The entire economy was turned into a war time one. Ordinary civilians had their food rationed to ensure supplies for soldiers and all of their income except an allowance for the basic necessities was paid as taxes for the war effort. All the industries were now producing good for the war effort and billions were sent as foot soldiers. The efficiency of humans had long been praised throughout the known universe but now it was cranked up to 11. Production of all sorts of goods seemed to double overnight and soldiers were given a year's worth of training in 4 months. The entire human race now had only one purpose to their existence, this war. It was frightening the lengths they went to. No bar was too low, no method too barbaric. They sent millions of spies, assassins and sleeper cells alike. All sowing chaos in the enemy ranks and causing deaths left right and center, mostly their own. There were many intergalaxy criminal gangs across the universe and the humans seemingly created triple as many every week. Their science advanced at a thunderous pace, coming up with new designs for everything from handguns to spaceships, to missiles and the like on almost a daily basis. The advantage the Three Great Species held in this conflict quickly disappeared and as the war stalled, they felt the pressure as their own people protested against the unnecessary violence. Ultimately the war lasted a full decade. A violent decade that saw the extermination of one race, the death of hundred of trillions, the extinction of entire planets and galaxies and suffering untold. On the 4th of June, 3029 AD, with the treaty of Jaipur, did the war finally come to an end, and the world learned an important lesson. NEVER MESS WITH HUMANS.
[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 Terrans had built Universities, hospitals, revolutionized inter-stellar commerce. They worked as ambassadors to negotiate peace and trade deals amongst the galactic community. Their few colonies built on out of the way unhospitable worlds. Their fleet was made of trade vessels, science ships, and pleasure yachts. They had a reputation as bringers of peace, knowledge, and healing. Then came the Garanzan incident. The Garanzan we new to the interstellar community, warlike, domineering, and powerful. Their armada outnumbered the combined forces of the allied races, they conquered whole worlds in a matter of days. When the Garanzan entered Melcap space the Melcap reached out Humanity to help negotiate a peace settlement. The Terrans send their premier ambassador to an arranged peace conference hosted by the Melcap. The entire Garanzan fleet showed up to the appointed meeting station and murdered the Melcap and Terran diplomats and broadcast the gruesome killings across known space. Three days later another Terran ambassador was dispatched to to the Garanzan home world with a single message. "Cease all hostilities at once or the United Terran Forces will declare war on the Garanzan." The Garanzan's sent back his head as a declaration of war. The Garanzan turned their fleets from the Melcap and attacked all known Terran colonies. For six months the Garanzan attacked and butchered humans ill equipped to fight against such military might. But even those fights became brutal battles against insurgencies, suicide attacks, and desperate counter attacks all meant to buy time. While the Allied races stood by and watched they knew Humanities time on the intergalactic stage was up. The Garanzan were too powerful, too numerous, and too blood thirsty to be stopped. Then came Terran Armada. After half of year of holding actions and watching their people die humanity struck back. The Garanzan were assaulting the human space platform Excalibur, a human outpost built for the Alliance to foster learning, trade and diplomacy. The station was a bastion of learning, commerce, and the best hospital in known space. Excalibur station was a massive installation of over one hundred thousand humans. The Garanzan saw the station as a monument to Terran weakness. General Gaulfluax recounts that day; "I ordered targeting on the facilities power generators to bring down their pitiful shields and allow our boarding craft to send reavers onto the station." "I had lead the campaign on the Ceti 4 colony and knew there would be heavy if ineffectual resistance. The humans were inventive and tenacious, but no match for reavers in full battle armor. I wanted to take the station as intact as possible to plunder it's technology. Humans were weak but their technology was far ahead of ours in terms of medicine and science." "Just as the shields faltered and I ordered the attack craft away a massive energy surge was reported above my fleet. A full Terran battle group emerged from space fold in perfect attack formation. You laugh now, but we had no clue then what we were up against." "Admiral McMullen opened hail to my ship and delivered an ultimatum. 'Surrender now or face destruction, you have 3 minutes' and signed off. I laughed, what could a single battle group do against my entire fleet. I stopped laughing after our assault craft were blown out of stars." "Have you every seen a Saturn Knight tear an assault craft apart? They use quantum energy blasts to take down our shields and then just rip the ships apart with their lances. And they can deploy dozens of them, each so small you can't see them on the scopes, I don't know how they do it." "Worse is the main cannon's on their assault ships, an energy beam a mile wide and ten miles long that annihilates anything in it's path. My fleet was torn to shreds after the first volley. To think all it took was six months to build such powerful weapons." General Gaulflaux surrendered after seven and a half minutes of combat. His fleet lost ninety percent of it's ships. The Terran vessels suffered zero losses. After the formal declaration of war Humanity reconstituted it's naval academy and repurposed and expanded the Mars foundries into an orbital ship yard capable of producing the massive warship in under a month. Marines were dispatched to colony worlds knowing they'd never return home to hold back the tides and buy humanity the time it needed to build a fleet capable of taking down the Garanzan. It happened all across the Garanzan empire. Terran battle groups would spacefold into attack position, demand surrender and open fire if no response was given. The Terran war machine turned out ships and crews at such a rate that their enemies were out numbered in just over two years of war. Terran Ambassadors now travel on small naval warships and are flanked at diplomatic events by Saturn Knights. The Terran Armada provides security across a thousand systems. And the Garanzan, they are slowly rebuilding their society with the assistance of the Terran Peace Corp.	In the year 2100, humanity finally achieved global peace. It was not an easy task. It took several wars, hundreds of crisises, 20 billion deaths and climate change but eventually the remaining humans learned to coexist peacefully. The 22nd century was seen as the greatest golden age in human history, a century of prosperity and development for all of humanity undivided by race, gender, or geography. It was also this century that saw humanity emerge as a multiplanatory species. Colonizing Mars, Pluto and everything in between. The next four centuries saw further expansion of the human race and by the time the Universal sentient Council found out about them, their numbers were in the hundreds of trillions and they had an entire galaxy to call as their own. This meant that when they joined the council, they were already high in the pecking order as many other species were much smaller in power and numbers alike. However, there were still more than a dozen species that could entirely decimate the humans and a handful who were their equals. The Council had existed for nearly 3000 years, yet they had never seen a race like the humans. They were wary of humans at first, but soon learned that these were some of the most pacifist creatures in the universe. Not only did they never have internal conflicts which even the strongest species were prone to, but their skill in statecraft, politics and diplomacy meant they never had to take to the battlefield. In 500 years, humans had grown quite a bit in stature and importance in the council. So much so that they could prevent a war between the junior races merely by their words. Yet for all their glory, they had also earned the disdain of others. Some species knew only war. They saw the reluctance of humans to take up arms not as an admirable trait, but a sign of weakness. The top three species, the Andromeins, the Saxofys, and the Yurnkilians were not happy to lose their influence to the upjumped humans. They had fighting constantly for power and influence in the council for millennium, often making the other species fight proxy wars on their behalf. It was why they kept expanding the council, to have more species to influence. They were three rival factions, and it was a known fact that you had to join one of them or you ended up earning their enmity. Apparently the humans never learned that. They were making their own faction now. Emerging as a fourth side in this power struggle and more and more species were now following their lead. It was frustrating and made the Three Great Species as they were often called, angry as hell. They decided to do something they had never done in their milenium long history, they formed an alliance. Each one was strong enough to destroy the humans on their own, but together, the whole thing would take no longer than a week. And so it was. On 4th June, 3019 AD, the Milky Way was invaded for the first time. The advanced warships made quick work of the defenses and the frontiers of the galaxy fell within a day. The humans did not resort to diplomacy this time. They did not even attend the council meetings from that day forth. Simply sending a message: you have made your last mistake. These words would be proven true in a mere week. For that is exactly how long it took for the Great Species to learn the truth of humanity. They had not fought a war in nearly a millennium, and thus had restrained bloodlust running through their veins. When war broke out, every single human, rich or poor, young or old, boy or girl, earthling or a colonist, EVERYONE decided to fight. The entire economy was turned into a war time one. Ordinary civilians had their food rationed to ensure supplies for soldiers and all of their income except an allowance for the basic necessities was paid as taxes for the war effort. All the industries were now producing good for the war effort and billions were sent as foot soldiers. The efficiency of humans had long been praised throughout the known universe but now it was cranked up to 11. Production of all sorts of goods seemed to double overnight and soldiers were given a year's worth of training in 4 months. The entire human race now had only one purpose to their existence, this war. It was frightening the lengths they went to. No bar was too low, no method too barbaric. They sent millions of spies, assassins and sleeper cells alike. All sowing chaos in the enemy ranks and causing deaths left right and center, mostly their own. There were many intergalaxy criminal gangs across the universe and the humans seemingly created triple as many every week. Their science advanced at a thunderous pace, coming up with new designs for everything from handguns to spaceships, to missiles and the like on almost a daily basis. The advantage the Three Great Species held in this conflict quickly disappeared and as the war stalled, they felt the pressure as their own people protested against the unnecessary violence. Ultimately the war lasted a full decade. A violent decade that saw the extermination of one race, the death of hundred of trillions, the extinction of entire planets and galaxies and suffering untold. On the 4th of June, 3029 AD, with the treaty of Jaipur, did the war finally come to an end, and the world learned an important lesson. NEVER MESS WITH HUMANS.
[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	"One Earthling, diplomat. How can you justify this madness on account of one sole Earthling?" The human stretched its angular limbs and considered the battlefield. Outside the star vessel lay our fleet. In ruins. I could see soldiers floating in the void of space, frozen solid as rock, all with the same expression on their faces: pure horror. "Don't say we didn't warn you, Xehemultran." Humans had domesticated themselves, turned themselves into pets; it was common knowledge. That was why they did not want to participate in galactic conflicts, that was why they were considered the ultimate neutral species. Diplomacy and trifles, words and empty gestures. Everyone knew humans did not fight. So how could this have happened? "This is sheer insanity. You have murdered billions. You have eradicated entire civilizations." "Yup." The human fidgeted with a finger inside its mouth, cleaning out some gunk. "All of this for Bella? Do you consider this destruction to be worth it?" "Oh, absolutely." I shook my heads. "She was not even a human." "Correct," said the Earthling. He pointed his weapon at me. "She was a cat." Expressionless, the human pulled the trigger.	In the year 2100, humanity finally achieved global peace. It was not an easy task. It took several wars, hundreds of crisises, 20 billion deaths and climate change but eventually the remaining humans learned to coexist peacefully. The 22nd century was seen as the greatest golden age in human history, a century of prosperity and development for all of humanity undivided by race, gender, or geography. It was also this century that saw humanity emerge as a multiplanatory species. Colonizing Mars, Pluto and everything in between. The next four centuries saw further expansion of the human race and by the time the Universal sentient Council found out about them, their numbers were in the hundreds of trillions and they had an entire galaxy to call as their own. This meant that when they joined the council, they were already high in the pecking order as many other species were much smaller in power and numbers alike. However, there were still more than a dozen species that could entirely decimate the humans and a handful who were their equals. The Council had existed for nearly 3000 years, yet they had never seen a race like the humans. They were wary of humans at first, but soon learned that these were some of the most pacifist creatures in the universe. Not only did they never have internal conflicts which even the strongest species were prone to, but their skill in statecraft, politics and diplomacy meant they never had to take to the battlefield. In 500 years, humans had grown quite a bit in stature and importance in the council. So much so that they could prevent a war between the junior races merely by their words. Yet for all their glory, they had also earned the disdain of others. Some species knew only war. They saw the reluctance of humans to take up arms not as an admirable trait, but a sign of weakness. The top three species, the Andromeins, the Saxofys, and the Yurnkilians were not happy to lose their influence to the upjumped humans. They had fighting constantly for power and influence in the council for millennium, often making the other species fight proxy wars on their behalf. It was why they kept expanding the council, to have more species to influence. They were three rival factions, and it was a known fact that you had to join one of them or you ended up earning their enmity. Apparently the humans never learned that. They were making their own faction now. Emerging as a fourth side in this power struggle and more and more species were now following their lead. It was frustrating and made the Three Great Species as they were often called, angry as hell. They decided to do something they had never done in their milenium long history, they formed an alliance. Each one was strong enough to destroy the humans on their own, but together, the whole thing would take no longer than a week. And so it was. On 4th June, 3019 AD, the Milky Way was invaded for the first time. The advanced warships made quick work of the defenses and the frontiers of the galaxy fell within a day. The humans did not resort to diplomacy this time. They did not even attend the council meetings from that day forth. Simply sending a message: you have made your last mistake. These words would be proven true in a mere week. For that is exactly how long it took for the Great Species to learn the truth of humanity. They had not fought a war in nearly a millennium, and thus had restrained bloodlust running through their veins. When war broke out, every single human, rich or poor, young or old, boy or girl, earthling or a colonist, EVERYONE decided to fight. The entire economy was turned into a war time one. Ordinary civilians had their food rationed to ensure supplies for soldiers and all of their income except an allowance for the basic necessities was paid as taxes for the war effort. All the industries were now producing good for the war effort and billions were sent as foot soldiers. The efficiency of humans had long been praised throughout the known universe but now it was cranked up to 11. Production of all sorts of goods seemed to double overnight and soldiers were given a year's worth of training in 4 months. The entire human race now had only one purpose to their existence, this war. It was frightening the lengths they went to. No bar was too low, no method too barbaric. They sent millions of spies, assassins and sleeper cells alike. All sowing chaos in the enemy ranks and causing deaths left right and center, mostly their own. There were many intergalaxy criminal gangs across the universe and the humans seemingly created triple as many every week. Their science advanced at a thunderous pace, coming up with new designs for everything from handguns to spaceships, to missiles and the like on almost a daily basis. The advantage the Three Great Species held in this conflict quickly disappeared and as the war stalled, they felt the pressure as their own people protested against the unnecessary violence. Ultimately the war lasted a full decade. A violent decade that saw the extermination of one race, the death of hundred of trillions, the extinction of entire planets and galaxies and suffering untold. On the 4th of June, 3029 AD, with the treaty of Jaipur, did the war finally come to an end, and the world learned an important lesson. NEVER MESS WITH HUMANS.
[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	Log 1.01 - 6462/55 Potential major new biodiversity harvest, Arm 4, stellar coordinates \[classified\]. Approximately 9 million identifiable species, DNA-based. Minor indigenous sapience, no world government, hive mind, or cybernetic control. Not even common language. 1.02 - 6462/56 Received message from imperial satrap, Council of Entities agrees with assessment, harvest of new world moved to top priority, codename Project Windfall. Biodiversity loss on Zor homeworlds considerably graver than generally leaked to non-Council Entities, new harvests to take priority over inorganic material harvests. Changing course to Windfall. 2.01 - 6462/87 Reached Windfall. Harvester ships Ixin, Cath, Roklut expected to arrive by 90-91. Recon drones deployed. 2.02 - 6462/89 Recon drones confirm probe drone. Massive biodiversity lode plus abundant liquid water. No organized opposition. Indigenous sapience in form of tribal/social primates, greater native intelligence than any other non-Zor species yet encountered, rudimentary AI capabilities, but most advanced capabilities used to fight other members of same species. Most advanced weapons are fission type, they hesitate to use them on one another only due to threat of retaliation in kind, but still an impressive accomplishment for a species with no guiding central authority. Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, will set aside additional share of the most bountiful harvest in the last millennium for the Zor if he'll sponsor additional seat on Council of Entities. 2.03 - 6462/92 Harvester ships arrived. Commencing harvest of Windfall. 2.04 - 6462/99 Native primate technology as expected is no match for ours. Multiple ape social colonies ("cities") razed and harvested. Resistance fierce but ineffective. 3.01 - 6462/120 Harvest progressing but slower than expected. Native primates behave in substantially unanticipated ways exposed to new stimuli. No significant trouble expected but we should perhaps pay attention to their social reaction complex as interesting in its own right, not mere biodiversity in a universe in which that always appears to be shrinking. 3.02 - 6462/160 Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, harvest can progress as things stand but additional armed escorts would assist. Native primates ("humans," they call themselves) demonstrate substantial adaptive capabilities, particularly with respect to martial capabilities. As you are aware, our weapons cannot be used by nonmembers of our species due to DNA coding that makes all our weapons cease function if held by an entity not of our species. In less than 50 days, these "humans" came up with the barbarous but effective adaptation of making gloves out of our skins, allowing them to hold our weapons and turn them against us. 3.03 - 6462/161 Humans merit further study after skin-stealing adaptation. Harvested multiple of their soldiers, of various ages, intact. Placed in stasis for further study. 3.04 - 6462/197 Almost all standard harvest protocols for problematic biodiversity surprisingly ineffective with respect to humans. Already considering resorting to Cleanser virus but degradation of the biodiversity haul of Windfall would substantially impair strategic objectives of harvest in the first place. 3.05 - 6462/249 Human population ongoing adaptation proving dangerous. Multiple counteroffensives and countermeasures somehow initiated spontaneously, imitating coordination with no coordinating authority or intelligence. Spontaneous organization of species-wide resistance including against orbital and ecological attacks. Apologies to the Council of Entities, but we cannot leave them alive. Initiating Cleanser virus, programming human DNA as primary target but DNA similarity of human and other biodiversity on this planet means harvest will be dramatically curtailed. 3.06 - 6462/259 - URGENT Cleanser virus largely successful but significant populations of humans remain alive. Moreover, those left alive appear to have sequenced and adapted it to attack us, somehow in the space of ten days. Expeditionary force and harvesters have withdrawn to ships. Will proceed with battle against humans and harvest Windfall with drone tech alone. Analysis at this point is pessimistic; drone tech alone unlikely to prevail given chaotic but frenetic adaptation of human species so far against Cleanser and other rogue biodiversity countermeasures. 4.01 - 6262/272 - URGENT Developing incident in progress in stasis chamber, unscheduled maintenance mode activations, emergency termination sequence malfunctioning. Human soldier prisoners may be loose onboard. 4.02 - 6462/272 - URGENT They are coming. Initiating self destruct. 5.01 - July 3, 2077 - YEAH, PROBABLY STILL URGENT Cool log. Looks like the self-destruct failed though. That kinda sucks. Sucks that we had to use your harvest ships to harvest the remains of most of our own cities, too, but there wasn't much left of them and at least your little flying factories helped us jumpstart our own fleet with all the metal of our old cities. Gotta live somewhere. And the view of Earth from space is still majestic even if y'all fucked it up on the surface. Oh, also, if you're reading this, just FYI ... we're still coming. Got nothing else to do now, and payback's a bitch. Signed, Humanity.	In the year 2100, humanity finally achieved global peace. It was not an easy task. It took several wars, hundreds of crisises, 20 billion deaths and climate change but eventually the remaining humans learned to coexist peacefully. The 22nd century was seen as the greatest golden age in human history, a century of prosperity and development for all of humanity undivided by race, gender, or geography. It was also this century that saw humanity emerge as a multiplanatory species. Colonizing Mars, Pluto and everything in between. The next four centuries saw further expansion of the human race and by the time the Universal sentient Council found out about them, their numbers were in the hundreds of trillions and they had an entire galaxy to call as their own. This meant that when they joined the council, they were already high in the pecking order as many other species were much smaller in power and numbers alike. However, there were still more than a dozen species that could entirely decimate the humans and a handful who were their equals. The Council had existed for nearly 3000 years, yet they had never seen a race like the humans. They were wary of humans at first, but soon learned that these were some of the most pacifist creatures in the universe. Not only did they never have internal conflicts which even the strongest species were prone to, but their skill in statecraft, politics and diplomacy meant they never had to take to the battlefield. In 500 years, humans had grown quite a bit in stature and importance in the council. So much so that they could prevent a war between the junior races merely by their words. Yet for all their glory, they had also earned the disdain of others. Some species knew only war. They saw the reluctance of humans to take up arms not as an admirable trait, but a sign of weakness. The top three species, the Andromeins, the Saxofys, and the Yurnkilians were not happy to lose their influence to the upjumped humans. They had fighting constantly for power and influence in the council for millennium, often making the other species fight proxy wars on their behalf. It was why they kept expanding the council, to have more species to influence. They were three rival factions, and it was a known fact that you had to join one of them or you ended up earning their enmity. Apparently the humans never learned that. They were making their own faction now. Emerging as a fourth side in this power struggle and more and more species were now following their lead. It was frustrating and made the Three Great Species as they were often called, angry as hell. They decided to do something they had never done in their milenium long history, they formed an alliance. Each one was strong enough to destroy the humans on their own, but together, the whole thing would take no longer than a week. And so it was. On 4th June, 3019 AD, the Milky Way was invaded for the first time. The advanced warships made quick work of the defenses and the frontiers of the galaxy fell within a day. The humans did not resort to diplomacy this time. They did not even attend the council meetings from that day forth. Simply sending a message: you have made your last mistake. These words would be proven true in a mere week. For that is exactly how long it took for the Great Species to learn the truth of humanity. They had not fought a war in nearly a millennium, and thus had restrained bloodlust running through their veins. When war broke out, every single human, rich or poor, young or old, boy or girl, earthling or a colonist, EVERYONE decided to fight. The entire economy was turned into a war time one. Ordinary civilians had their food rationed to ensure supplies for soldiers and all of their income except an allowance for the basic necessities was paid as taxes for the war effort. All the industries were now producing good for the war effort and billions were sent as foot soldiers. The efficiency of humans had long been praised throughout the known universe but now it was cranked up to 11. Production of all sorts of goods seemed to double overnight and soldiers were given a year's worth of training in 4 months. The entire human race now had only one purpose to their existence, this war. It was frightening the lengths they went to. No bar was too low, no method too barbaric. They sent millions of spies, assassins and sleeper cells alike. All sowing chaos in the enemy ranks and causing deaths left right and center, mostly their own. There were many intergalaxy criminal gangs across the universe and the humans seemingly created triple as many every week. Their science advanced at a thunderous pace, coming up with new designs for everything from handguns to spaceships, to missiles and the like on almost a daily basis. The advantage the Three Great Species held in this conflict quickly disappeared and as the war stalled, they felt the pressure as their own people protested against the unnecessary violence. Ultimately the war lasted a full decade. A violent decade that saw the extermination of one race, the death of hundred of trillions, the extinction of entire planets and galaxies and suffering untold. On the 4th of June, 3029 AD, with the treaty of Jaipur, did the war finally come to an end, and the world learned an important lesson. NEVER MESS WITH HUMANS.
[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 still remember the look on Ambassador Ford’s (Betelgeusean Republic’s representative to the former Galactic Councils 300 BT – 5 TA) face when I informed him we had declared war on the pathetic Humans of the Terran Federation. His blue blood drained from his face, leaving a dirty yellow visage which had previously shone a healthy green. The only thing he said was ‘What have you done?’ which I thought wwas just due to Betelgeusean fondness for the cowardly pacifistic species. If only we had known the truth…” – Gragtun’iik’iill, Former Krillnean Ambassador to the Galactic Councils 89 BT – 7 BT Warfare has changed very little since the first slightly complex multicellular organisms began banding together to fight one another over limited resources. The equation generally comes down to who can out produce the other in manpower, supplies, or weapons. For as terrifying and powerful a new weapon system may be, it can still be outclassed by sheer volume. At the dawn of the Terran Alliance, a heavily modified version of this calculation was in use to determine the general effectiveness of galactic empires. The weapon system of the day, as for most navies throughout history, was the battleship. Advanced civilizations, such as The Betelgeusean Republic, were capable of building, crewing, and launching these behemoths in only 50 cycles. In 10 BT the rising Krillnean Empire felt that their armada, while small on the galactic scale, would be well equipped to destroy the peace loving, ever negotiating, Terran Federation. Afterall Terra had only 20 battleships in service, and had not completed a new such vessel in over 150 cycles. Krillnea was able to produce a vessel in as few as 80 cycles, and had a standing navy of over 500 ships. Additionally, due to the sensitive and specialized nature of the systems on board a starship, let alone a warship, a certain level of training and experience was required. This training and practical experience was extremely costly, and could take dozens of cycles for a Human to acquire, but for the long-lived children of the Krillnean Hives, born to carry out specific tasks, it was simple. The game of numbers, it seemed, was decided. As war commenced, the humans fought bravely to defend their colonies, but the numbers were against them. The Terran Fleet was destroyed in combat around Proxima Centauri, and colonies fell one after another. The Krillnean Armada advanced methodically, but sustained a far higher rate of losses than initially expected, which while concerning, was overshadowed by the rapid advance to the Human’s home system of Sol. The Battle of Sol (7 BT) was a turning point in the evolution of warfare. Standard practice had been to harvest asteroid, moons, rocky planetoids, and anything available for raw materials to process into Space Ship components. This took time, capital, and abundant resources. With the main Terran shipyards destroyed, and with access to her colonies cut off, the Terran Federation appeared to be teetering on extinction. What the Krillnean armada encountered upon entering the Sol system was not a scrambling mass of scared civilians, but a star system that had been entirely strip mined, and a brand new, incredibly massive fleet of “Warships” waiting for them. The Sol system had always been considered somewhat of an anomaly. It had not one but two asteroid belts surrounding it, one of which harbored several larger planetoids. While these raw materials would have been a boon to most industries, the density of the belts in Sol made harvesting these resources a very laborious and risky endeavor. Even then, those resources would need to be refined methodically, and carefully to ensure no errant debris might strike a vessel or colony, and standard practice was to dump the empty husks of these asteroids into the nearest star, where it may safely be consumed. The Terran Federation had several larger asteroids in stable orbits near their home planet of Earth, most were completely devoid of usable material and were merely awaiting their turn to be sent sunward. For Humanity they became salvation. Instead of building a warship from scratch, Terran engineers crawled over these husks, fitting them with reactors, weapons systems, thrusters, and crude life support systems. When manpower turned out to be lacking, regular civilians pitched in to help, many of them having never performed a spacewalk or heavy construction previously. In total, over 600 such “vessels” were created over the span of a single cycle. Numerous other smaller asteroids were converted into unguided missiles, whose mass proved so effective at defeating point defense and shield systems that they are still in use today. The Krillnean armada of 573 ships and 6-8 million souls was entirely obliterated. While not particularly agile or comfortable, the extremely basic nature of the human warships allowed them to survive attacks from the latest weapons systems, usually with little to no adverse effects. In fact, during the Battle of Sol, the total Terran losses were 237,000 personnel across 7 ships destroyed, and 13 damaged. The Battle of Sol set the stage for the fall of the Galactic Council. As the Terran Federation reestablished control of her colonies and continued the fight towards the Krillnean home worlds, they continued to refine, improve, and produce their new class of vessels. Long since superseded by newer classes of warship, the Nemesis class battleships are still the most decorated vessels in the history of the Terran Alliance. The Nemesis, first of her class, is still in use today and has the honor of being not only the ship which fired the first shot at the Battle of Sol, but also the vessel which destroyed the last enemy ship during the War of Unification between the Terran Federation and the Galactic Councils.	In the year 2100, humanity finally achieved global peace. It was not an easy task. It took several wars, hundreds of crisises, 20 billion deaths and climate change but eventually the remaining humans learned to coexist peacefully. The 22nd century was seen as the greatest golden age in human history, a century of prosperity and development for all of humanity undivided by race, gender, or geography. It was also this century that saw humanity emerge as a multiplanatory species. Colonizing Mars, Pluto and everything in between. The next four centuries saw further expansion of the human race and by the time the Universal sentient Council found out about them, their numbers were in the hundreds of trillions and they had an entire galaxy to call as their own. This meant that when they joined the council, they were already high in the pecking order as many other species were much smaller in power and numbers alike. However, there were still more than a dozen species that could entirely decimate the humans and a handful who were their equals. The Council had existed for nearly 3000 years, yet they had never seen a race like the humans. They were wary of humans at first, but soon learned that these were some of the most pacifist creatures in the universe. Not only did they never have internal conflicts which even the strongest species were prone to, but their skill in statecraft, politics and diplomacy meant they never had to take to the battlefield. In 500 years, humans had grown quite a bit in stature and importance in the council. So much so that they could prevent a war between the junior races merely by their words. Yet for all their glory, they had also earned the disdain of others. Some species knew only war. They saw the reluctance of humans to take up arms not as an admirable trait, but a sign of weakness. The top three species, the Andromeins, the Saxofys, and the Yurnkilians were not happy to lose their influence to the upjumped humans. They had fighting constantly for power and influence in the council for millennium, often making the other species fight proxy wars on their behalf. It was why they kept expanding the council, to have more species to influence. They were three rival factions, and it was a known fact that you had to join one of them or you ended up earning their enmity. Apparently the humans never learned that. They were making their own faction now. Emerging as a fourth side in this power struggle and more and more species were now following their lead. It was frustrating and made the Three Great Species as they were often called, angry as hell. They decided to do something they had never done in their milenium long history, they formed an alliance. Each one was strong enough to destroy the humans on their own, but together, the whole thing would take no longer than a week. And so it was. On 4th June, 3019 AD, the Milky Way was invaded for the first time. The advanced warships made quick work of the defenses and the frontiers of the galaxy fell within a day. The humans did not resort to diplomacy this time. They did not even attend the council meetings from that day forth. Simply sending a message: you have made your last mistake. These words would be proven true in a mere week. For that is exactly how long it took for the Great Species to learn the truth of humanity. They had not fought a war in nearly a millennium, and thus had restrained bloodlust running through their veins. When war broke out, every single human, rich or poor, young or old, boy or girl, earthling or a colonist, EVERYONE decided to fight. The entire economy was turned into a war time one. Ordinary civilians had their food rationed to ensure supplies for soldiers and all of their income except an allowance for the basic necessities was paid as taxes for the war effort. All the industries were now producing good for the war effort and billions were sent as foot soldiers. The efficiency of humans had long been praised throughout the known universe but now it was cranked up to 11. Production of all sorts of goods seemed to double overnight and soldiers were given a year's worth of training in 4 months. The entire human race now had only one purpose to their existence, this war. It was frightening the lengths they went to. No bar was too low, no method too barbaric. They sent millions of spies, assassins and sleeper cells alike. All sowing chaos in the enemy ranks and causing deaths left right and center, mostly their own. There were many intergalaxy criminal gangs across the universe and the humans seemingly created triple as many every week. Their science advanced at a thunderous pace, coming up with new designs for everything from handguns to spaceships, to missiles and the like on almost a daily basis. The advantage the Three Great Species held in this conflict quickly disappeared and as the war stalled, they felt the pressure as their own people protested against the unnecessary violence. Ultimately the war lasted a full decade. A violent decade that saw the extermination of one race, the death of hundred of trillions, the extinction of entire planets and galaxies and suffering untold. On the 4th of June, 3029 AD, with the treaty of Jaipur, did the war finally come to an end, and the world learned an important lesson. NEVER MESS WITH HUMANS.
[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	“Examiner, have you reached any conclusions?” The holo-video lit up in the center of the laboratory. The face of Preator Endex filled the void in the center of the room. “Yes. Praetor. The specimen you provided was intact enough to draw a conclusion,” Examiner Zendex replied. “If I may ask, how was such a faultless specimen procured?” “By accident, Examiner.” Zendex could hear the embarrassment in the Preator’s voice. The Klee were notorious for their ability to plan. To have a complete human specimen simply fall into their possession as an act of luck was an insult to the Praetor’s ability to calculate probable outcomes. Still, it was likely that the additional information to be gleaned from studying a full anatomy could very well prove the turning of the war. “I see.” Zendex obfuscated his disapproval outwardly, while in actual fact he was enjoying the Praetor’s discomfort. No less than twelve successors to the current Praetor had all tried to turn the tide of the galactic conflict. Over fifty cycles, and none had succeeded. For all his braggadocio, Praetor Endex had proven equally incapable of mastering the necessary variables to overcome this foe. Not that it wasn’t a complex problem…. “Please, state your conclusion, then propose the underlying premises,” the Praetor encouraged. “Of course,” Zendex paused, wondering if the magnitude of his discoveries would be fully communicated, much less appreciated by the greater Klee protectorate. “The additional information gleaned from this specimen leads to the conclusion that this war will be over in less than two cycles.” The Praetor bared his mandibles in a sign of satisfaction. “Ah, we have it then. What is your margin of error?” The Examiner balked. To ask the question of an Examiner of such high esteem was almost an insult. “Within the ninety ninth percentile, Praetor.” “Then by all means, state your premises.” It was customary in Klee society to state the conclusion of an encounter first, then reveal the necessary background information informing the deduction. To save on the need for pointless interactions, a subordinate would typically accept the conclusions of an Elder. This was given to the Klee’s exceptional ability to calculate probabilities into several dimensions of thinking. To inquire into the basis for a deduction was to show interest, and thus respect, for the proponent of the conclusion. The Praetor was clearly showing great respect for the Examiner’s presentation. Such deference deserved a thorough exhibition. “I direct your attention to the specimen, Praetor.” The lifeless body of the pale human lay limply on the examining table, its various entrails and organs neatly stacked in a small row next to it. “As you can see from the scorian readout, the Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Muscular and Renal systems of these humans are typical of a class four evolutionary primateon species. Other than the digestive systems ability to vacate a surprising number of toxins, these systems are rather unremarkable...” The presentation continued, analyzing each biological strength and weakness in turn. The Praetor patiently listened. The Klee had conquered thousands of species in galactic combat. No race had been able to withstand their superior minds, being able to calculate and adapt to thousands of permutations and possible outcomes. And so it was supposed to be a simple conquest of this backward human world. Their superior numbers and technology obvious, the Klee had offered the humans a dignified surrender almost simultaneously with their invasion. The Klee war counsel had noted that the humans preferred to rely on diplomacy, which loosely translated basically meant mutual surrender, with neither side a victor. Words were a decent enough tool to fend off aggression in some cases. But without the might to back up those words … the Klee knew better. Despite its 1,000 years of peace with its neighbors, the Klee knew that no diplomacy would be enough to prevent Earth’s capture. At least, they thought they knew. Despite the analytical approach to the invasion, this unremarkable species had left cataclysmic destruction in its wake. Generally, an intergalactic war took one, maybe two cycles to conclude, especially when victory from one side or the other was all but assured. Once both sides concluded that victory was inevitable, a ceremonial surrender was typical. But the current conflict had lasted over fifty cycles, and the waste of resources had nearly drained the empire into insolvency. It wouldn’t be long until the outer systems calculated weakness… These humans did not conform to any known parameters. In most conflicts, multiple circumstances could be calculated, reevaluated, predicted. But not humans. In one iteration, humans would behave conservatively, almost to a fault. Giving ground even when obvious advantages could clearly be seized. In other encounters, they displayed a recklessness and ferocity known only among the unevolved. Fifty cycles later and they were just as impossible to predict as the day the Klee invaded Earth. The Earth invasion was a disaster by any tactical standard. It had been studied, reanalyzed, reinterpreted. But no solid conclusions could be reached. Upon landfall, the humans initially reacted as any other class four primateon. Family units hiding in fear. Communications disrupted. Military responses disorganized. And then, as if signaled by a Praetorean elite, something changed. The humans responded with the ferociousness and recklessness of an unevolved reptile or arachnid. Forces were marshaled imperfectly, but effectively. Counter offensives with no seeming probability of victory nevertheless succeeded. And once some Klee technology was in the hands of the enemy, the situation went all downsystem. Native humans with no military training whatsoever were taking up munitions and retaliating with no regard to their own existence. Elite human units advanced TOWARD certain death. By the time the provisional government envoy arrived to impose judicial order, the humans had routed all 36 expeditionary squads, including the capital ships. How in the nexus they even got up to the fleet centers remains a mystery, as human technology simply wasn’t advanced past placing geosynchronous communicators in their own orbit. To add insult, the humans used the captured fleet to commandeer the undefended bureaucratic envoy just after its arrival. And then? Then they repurposed the envoy to proclaim victory, making the Klee administrative apparatus assume the planet was in conquered status. It wasn’t until a whole cycle had passed until the Klee elite had noticed there wasn’t any tribute. But by then it was too late. The humans had adapted to the technology quickly. Not just to seize and use it, but also perverting Klee technology to suit their own destructive ends. From there, forty-nine cycles of interstellar destruction and chaos across entire systems. Unlike other space-faring species, the humans seem to have no respect for cosmic order. It is as if they must repurpose the universe itself to match their fleeting lifespan. They damage anything in their path to achieve even minor victories. Anger toward a conqueror was to be expected. But the patterns appeared to demonstrate a malice toward the Klee that could not have been predicted from an evolved species. Using space folding technology, they used a Klee warp engine to fold out the orbit of a key military installation, shifting it into the path of a black hole, and damaging the habitability of three separate colonies. They strapped fusion reactors onto refueling pylons and sent them back into the prime nexus, haphazardly destroying or crippling thirteen production outposts. In one engagement, a system neighboring a production facility with no military value was completely destroyed, a seemingly pointless act. But worst of all, in every encounter their soldiers and pilots show no regard whatsoever for their own personal safety, at times letting loose fission and fusion weapons of their own design, which spread fallout throughout half the Klee protectorate. It has made the end of the conflict nearly impossible to manage.	In the year 2100, humanity finally achieved global peace. It was not an easy task. It took several wars, hundreds of crisises, 20 billion deaths and climate change but eventually the remaining humans learned to coexist peacefully. The 22nd century was seen as the greatest golden age in human history, a century of prosperity and development for all of humanity undivided by race, gender, or geography. It was also this century that saw humanity emerge as a multiplanatory species. Colonizing Mars, Pluto and everything in between. The next four centuries saw further expansion of the human race and by the time the Universal sentient Council found out about them, their numbers were in the hundreds of trillions and they had an entire galaxy to call as their own. This meant that when they joined the council, they were already high in the pecking order as many other species were much smaller in power and numbers alike. However, there were still more than a dozen species that could entirely decimate the humans and a handful who were their equals. The Council had existed for nearly 3000 years, yet they had never seen a race like the humans. They were wary of humans at first, but soon learned that these were some of the most pacifist creatures in the universe. Not only did they never have internal conflicts which even the strongest species were prone to, but their skill in statecraft, politics and diplomacy meant they never had to take to the battlefield. In 500 years, humans had grown quite a bit in stature and importance in the council. So much so that they could prevent a war between the junior races merely by their words. Yet for all their glory, they had also earned the disdain of others. Some species knew only war. They saw the reluctance of humans to take up arms not as an admirable trait, but a sign of weakness. The top three species, the Andromeins, the Saxofys, and the Yurnkilians were not happy to lose their influence to the upjumped humans. They had fighting constantly for power and influence in the council for millennium, often making the other species fight proxy wars on their behalf. It was why they kept expanding the council, to have more species to influence. They were three rival factions, and it was a known fact that you had to join one of them or you ended up earning their enmity. Apparently the humans never learned that. They were making their own faction now. Emerging as a fourth side in this power struggle and more and more species were now following their lead. It was frustrating and made the Three Great Species as they were often called, angry as hell. They decided to do something they had never done in their milenium long history, they formed an alliance. Each one was strong enough to destroy the humans on their own, but together, the whole thing would take no longer than a week. And so it was. On 4th June, 3019 AD, the Milky Way was invaded for the first time. The advanced warships made quick work of the defenses and the frontiers of the galaxy fell within a day. The humans did not resort to diplomacy this time. They did not even attend the council meetings from that day forth. Simply sending a message: you have made your last mistake. These words would be proven true in a mere week. For that is exactly how long it took for the Great Species to learn the truth of humanity. They had not fought a war in nearly a millennium, and thus had restrained bloodlust running through their veins. When war broke out, every single human, rich or poor, young or old, boy or girl, earthling or a colonist, EVERYONE decided to fight. The entire economy was turned into a war time one. Ordinary civilians had their food rationed to ensure supplies for soldiers and all of their income except an allowance for the basic necessities was paid as taxes for the war effort. All the industries were now producing good for the war effort and billions were sent as foot soldiers. The efficiency of humans had long been praised throughout the known universe but now it was cranked up to 11. Production of all sorts of goods seemed to double overnight and soldiers were given a year's worth of training in 4 months. The entire human race now had only one purpose to their existence, this war. It was frightening the lengths they went to. No bar was too low, no method too barbaric. They sent millions of spies, assassins and sleeper cells alike. All sowing chaos in the enemy ranks and causing deaths left right and center, mostly their own. There were many intergalaxy criminal gangs across the universe and the humans seemingly created triple as many every week. Their science advanced at a thunderous pace, coming up with new designs for everything from handguns to spaceships, to missiles and the like on almost a daily basis. The advantage the Three Great Species held in this conflict quickly disappeared and as the war stalled, they felt the pressure as their own people protested against the unnecessary violence. Ultimately the war lasted a full decade. A violent decade that saw the extermination of one race, the death of hundred of trillions, the extinction of entire planets and galaxies and suffering untold. On the 4th of June, 3029 AD, with the treaty of Jaipur, did the war finally come to an end, and the world learned an important lesson. NEVER MESS WITH HUMANS.
[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 Terrans had built Universities, hospitals, revolutionized inter-stellar commerce. They worked as ambassadors to negotiate peace and trade deals amongst the galactic community. Their few colonies built on out of the way unhospitable worlds. Their fleet was made of trade vessels, science ships, and pleasure yachts. They had a reputation as bringers of peace, knowledge, and healing. Then came the Garanzan incident. The Garanzan we new to the interstellar community, warlike, domineering, and powerful. Their armada outnumbered the combined forces of the allied races, they conquered whole worlds in a matter of days. When the Garanzan entered Melcap space the Melcap reached out Humanity to help negotiate a peace settlement. The Terrans send their premier ambassador to an arranged peace conference hosted by the Melcap. The entire Garanzan fleet showed up to the appointed meeting station and murdered the Melcap and Terran diplomats and broadcast the gruesome killings across known space. Three days later another Terran ambassador was dispatched to to the Garanzan home world with a single message. "Cease all hostilities at once or the United Terran Forces will declare war on the Garanzan." The Garanzan's sent back his head as a declaration of war. The Garanzan turned their fleets from the Melcap and attacked all known Terran colonies. For six months the Garanzan attacked and butchered humans ill equipped to fight against such military might. But even those fights became brutal battles against insurgencies, suicide attacks, and desperate counter attacks all meant to buy time. While the Allied races stood by and watched they knew Humanities time on the intergalactic stage was up. The Garanzan were too powerful, too numerous, and too blood thirsty to be stopped. Then came Terran Armada. After half of year of holding actions and watching their people die humanity struck back. The Garanzan were assaulting the human space platform Excalibur, a human outpost built for the Alliance to foster learning, trade and diplomacy. The station was a bastion of learning, commerce, and the best hospital in known space. Excalibur station was a massive installation of over one hundred thousand humans. The Garanzan saw the station as a monument to Terran weakness. General Gaulfluax recounts that day; "I ordered targeting on the facilities power generators to bring down their pitiful shields and allow our boarding craft to send reavers onto the station." "I had lead the campaign on the Ceti 4 colony and knew there would be heavy if ineffectual resistance. The humans were inventive and tenacious, but no match for reavers in full battle armor. I wanted to take the station as intact as possible to plunder it's technology. Humans were weak but their technology was far ahead of ours in terms of medicine and science." "Just as the shields faltered and I ordered the attack craft away a massive energy surge was reported above my fleet. A full Terran battle group emerged from space fold in perfect attack formation. You laugh now, but we had no clue then what we were up against." "Admiral McMullen opened hail to my ship and delivered an ultimatum. 'Surrender now or face destruction, you have 3 minutes' and signed off. I laughed, what could a single battle group do against my entire fleet. I stopped laughing after our assault craft were blown out of stars." "Have you every seen a Saturn Knight tear an assault craft apart? They use quantum energy blasts to take down our shields and then just rip the ships apart with their lances. And they can deploy dozens of them, each so small you can't see them on the scopes, I don't know how they do it." "Worse is the main cannon's on their assault ships, an energy beam a mile wide and ten miles long that annihilates anything in it's path. My fleet was torn to shreds after the first volley. To think all it took was six months to build such powerful weapons." General Gaulflaux surrendered after seven and a half minutes of combat. His fleet lost ninety percent of it's ships. The Terran vessels suffered zero losses. After the formal declaration of war Humanity reconstituted it's naval academy and repurposed and expanded the Mars foundries into an orbital ship yard capable of producing the massive warship in under a month. Marines were dispatched to colony worlds knowing they'd never return home to hold back the tides and buy humanity the time it needed to build a fleet capable of taking down the Garanzan. It happened all across the Garanzan empire. Terran battle groups would spacefold into attack position, demand surrender and open fire if no response was given. The Terran war machine turned out ships and crews at such a rate that their enemies were out numbered in just over two years of war. Terran Ambassadors now travel on small naval warships and are flanked at diplomatic events by Saturn Knights. The Terran Armada provides security across a thousand systems. And the Garanzan, they are slowly rebuilding their society with the assistance of the Terran Peace Corp.	The universe exists in the middle of an explosion. Billions of stars burn and then shed their matter across the void as they burn out. Our species developed from that matter to rule. We clawed our way out of our gravity well and fought any other species that dared to join us in space. Until we came across humans. They are tiny compared to us. Fragile. Insignificant. They cannot bear the energy of stars without protection, even on their world. The void crushes them outside their gravity well, so they developed shelters to explore from. We tore those shelters to pieces before we even recognized what they were. They struck back using matter, which we ignored. They struck back using energy, which annoyed us. Then they struck back using stars. How did such insignificant things harness the power of stars? Somehow they can create them at will. We lost an entire colony in their system before we realized what had happened. Then the war began in earnest. We had fought all others into submission yet could not stop humans. They were too small. Kill one, and a million come next. They breed faster than any other thinking creatures we have found and can live on useless scraps of matter. They fear nothing. We thought to keep them isolated in their system, but an infestation of them hid on our ship until it reached our home. They exploited our infrastructure and used what they could steal to sustain their colony. In that short time, their numbers grew exponentially, and they learned our ways. Once we arrived home, they used that knowledge to ignite suns all over the system to damaging effect. My homeworld is completely overrun now. No one can help me. I write this last message as my orbit decays into the sun. Do not fight humans. They are war.
[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	"One Earthling, diplomat. How can you justify this madness on account of one sole Earthling?" The human stretched its angular limbs and considered the battlefield. Outside the star vessel lay our fleet. In ruins. I could see soldiers floating in the void of space, frozen solid as rock, all with the same expression on their faces: pure horror. "Don't say we didn't warn you, Xehemultran." Humans had domesticated themselves, turned themselves into pets; it was common knowledge. That was why they did not want to participate in galactic conflicts, that was why they were considered the ultimate neutral species. Diplomacy and trifles, words and empty gestures. Everyone knew humans did not fight. So how could this have happened? "This is sheer insanity. You have murdered billions. You have eradicated entire civilizations." "Yup." The human fidgeted with a finger inside its mouth, cleaning out some gunk. "All of this for Bella? Do you consider this destruction to be worth it?" "Oh, absolutely." I shook my heads. "She was not even a human." "Correct," said the Earthling. He pointed his weapon at me. "She was a cat." Expressionless, the human pulled the trigger.	The universe exists in the middle of an explosion. Billions of stars burn and then shed their matter across the void as they burn out. Our species developed from that matter to rule. We clawed our way out of our gravity well and fought any other species that dared to join us in space. Until we came across humans. They are tiny compared to us. Fragile. Insignificant. They cannot bear the energy of stars without protection, even on their world. The void crushes them outside their gravity well, so they developed shelters to explore from. We tore those shelters to pieces before we even recognized what they were. They struck back using matter, which we ignored. They struck back using energy, which annoyed us. Then they struck back using stars. How did such insignificant things harness the power of stars? Somehow they can create them at will. We lost an entire colony in their system before we realized what had happened. Then the war began in earnest. We had fought all others into submission yet could not stop humans. They were too small. Kill one, and a million come next. They breed faster than any other thinking creatures we have found and can live on useless scraps of matter. They fear nothing. We thought to keep them isolated in their system, but an infestation of them hid on our ship until it reached our home. They exploited our infrastructure and used what they could steal to sustain their colony. In that short time, their numbers grew exponentially, and they learned our ways. Once we arrived home, they used that knowledge to ignite suns all over the system to damaging effect. My homeworld is completely overrun now. No one can help me. I write this last message as my orbit decays into the sun. Do not fight humans. They are war.
[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	Log 1.01 - 6462/55 Potential major new biodiversity harvest, Arm 4, stellar coordinates \[classified\]. Approximately 9 million identifiable species, DNA-based. Minor indigenous sapience, no world government, hive mind, or cybernetic control. Not even common language. 1.02 - 6462/56 Received message from imperial satrap, Council of Entities agrees with assessment, harvest of new world moved to top priority, codename Project Windfall. Biodiversity loss on Zor homeworlds considerably graver than generally leaked to non-Council Entities, new harvests to take priority over inorganic material harvests. Changing course to Windfall. 2.01 - 6462/87 Reached Windfall. Harvester ships Ixin, Cath, Roklut expected to arrive by 90-91. Recon drones deployed. 2.02 - 6462/89 Recon drones confirm probe drone. Massive biodiversity lode plus abundant liquid water. No organized opposition. Indigenous sapience in form of tribal/social primates, greater native intelligence than any other non-Zor species yet encountered, rudimentary AI capabilities, but most advanced capabilities used to fight other members of same species. Most advanced weapons are fission type, they hesitate to use them on one another only due to threat of retaliation in kind, but still an impressive accomplishment for a species with no guiding central authority. Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, will set aside additional share of the most bountiful harvest in the last millennium for the Zor if he'll sponsor additional seat on Council of Entities. 2.03 - 6462/92 Harvester ships arrived. Commencing harvest of Windfall. 2.04 - 6462/99 Native primate technology as expected is no match for ours. Multiple ape social colonies ("cities") razed and harvested. Resistance fierce but ineffective. 3.01 - 6462/120 Harvest progressing but slower than expected. Native primates behave in substantially unanticipated ways exposed to new stimuli. No significant trouble expected but we should perhaps pay attention to their social reaction complex as interesting in its own right, not mere biodiversity in a universe in which that always appears to be shrinking. 3.02 - 6462/160 Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, harvest can progress as things stand but additional armed escorts would assist. Native primates ("humans," they call themselves) demonstrate substantial adaptive capabilities, particularly with respect to martial capabilities. As you are aware, our weapons cannot be used by nonmembers of our species due to DNA coding that makes all our weapons cease function if held by an entity not of our species. In less than 50 days, these "humans" came up with the barbarous but effective adaptation of making gloves out of our skins, allowing them to hold our weapons and turn them against us. 3.03 - 6462/161 Humans merit further study after skin-stealing adaptation. Harvested multiple of their soldiers, of various ages, intact. Placed in stasis for further study. 3.04 - 6462/197 Almost all standard harvest protocols for problematic biodiversity surprisingly ineffective with respect to humans. Already considering resorting to Cleanser virus but degradation of the biodiversity haul of Windfall would substantially impair strategic objectives of harvest in the first place. 3.05 - 6462/249 Human population ongoing adaptation proving dangerous. Multiple counteroffensives and countermeasures somehow initiated spontaneously, imitating coordination with no coordinating authority or intelligence. Spontaneous organization of species-wide resistance including against orbital and ecological attacks. Apologies to the Council of Entities, but we cannot leave them alive. Initiating Cleanser virus, programming human DNA as primary target but DNA similarity of human and other biodiversity on this planet means harvest will be dramatically curtailed. 3.06 - 6462/259 - URGENT Cleanser virus largely successful but significant populations of humans remain alive. Moreover, those left alive appear to have sequenced and adapted it to attack us, somehow in the space of ten days. Expeditionary force and harvesters have withdrawn to ships. Will proceed with battle against humans and harvest Windfall with drone tech alone. Analysis at this point is pessimistic; drone tech alone unlikely to prevail given chaotic but frenetic adaptation of human species so far against Cleanser and other rogue biodiversity countermeasures. 4.01 - 6262/272 - URGENT Developing incident in progress in stasis chamber, unscheduled maintenance mode activations, emergency termination sequence malfunctioning. Human soldier prisoners may be loose onboard. 4.02 - 6462/272 - URGENT They are coming. Initiating self destruct. 5.01 - July 3, 2077 - YEAH, PROBABLY STILL URGENT Cool log. Looks like the self-destruct failed though. That kinda sucks. Sucks that we had to use your harvest ships to harvest the remains of most of our own cities, too, but there wasn't much left of them and at least your little flying factories helped us jumpstart our own fleet with all the metal of our old cities. Gotta live somewhere. And the view of Earth from space is still majestic even if y'all fucked it up on the surface. Oh, also, if you're reading this, just FYI ... we're still coming. Got nothing else to do now, and payback's a bitch. Signed, Humanity.	The universe exists in the middle of an explosion. Billions of stars burn and then shed their matter across the void as they burn out. Our species developed from that matter to rule. We clawed our way out of our gravity well and fought any other species that dared to join us in space. Until we came across humans. They are tiny compared to us. Fragile. Insignificant. They cannot bear the energy of stars without protection, even on their world. The void crushes them outside their gravity well, so they developed shelters to explore from. We tore those shelters to pieces before we even recognized what they were. They struck back using matter, which we ignored. They struck back using energy, which annoyed us. Then they struck back using stars. How did such insignificant things harness the power of stars? Somehow they can create them at will. We lost an entire colony in their system before we realized what had happened. Then the war began in earnest. We had fought all others into submission yet could not stop humans. They were too small. Kill one, and a million come next. They breed faster than any other thinking creatures we have found and can live on useless scraps of matter. They fear nothing. We thought to keep them isolated in their system, but an infestation of them hid on our ship until it reached our home. They exploited our infrastructure and used what they could steal to sustain their colony. In that short time, their numbers grew exponentially, and they learned our ways. Once we arrived home, they used that knowledge to ignite suns all over the system to damaging effect. My homeworld is completely overrun now. No one can help me. I write this last message as my orbit decays into the sun. Do not fight humans. They are war.
[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 still remember the look on Ambassador Ford’s (Betelgeusean Republic’s representative to the former Galactic Councils 300 BT – 5 TA) face when I informed him we had declared war on the pathetic Humans of the Terran Federation. His blue blood drained from his face, leaving a dirty yellow visage which had previously shone a healthy green. The only thing he said was ‘What have you done?’ which I thought wwas just due to Betelgeusean fondness for the cowardly pacifistic species. If only we had known the truth…” – Gragtun’iik’iill, Former Krillnean Ambassador to the Galactic Councils 89 BT – 7 BT Warfare has changed very little since the first slightly complex multicellular organisms began banding together to fight one another over limited resources. The equation generally comes down to who can out produce the other in manpower, supplies, or weapons. For as terrifying and powerful a new weapon system may be, it can still be outclassed by sheer volume. At the dawn of the Terran Alliance, a heavily modified version of this calculation was in use to determine the general effectiveness of galactic empires. The weapon system of the day, as for most navies throughout history, was the battleship. Advanced civilizations, such as The Betelgeusean Republic, were capable of building, crewing, and launching these behemoths in only 50 cycles. In 10 BT the rising Krillnean Empire felt that their armada, while small on the galactic scale, would be well equipped to destroy the peace loving, ever negotiating, Terran Federation. Afterall Terra had only 20 battleships in service, and had not completed a new such vessel in over 150 cycles. Krillnea was able to produce a vessel in as few as 80 cycles, and had a standing navy of over 500 ships. Additionally, due to the sensitive and specialized nature of the systems on board a starship, let alone a warship, a certain level of training and experience was required. This training and practical experience was extremely costly, and could take dozens of cycles for a Human to acquire, but for the long-lived children of the Krillnean Hives, born to carry out specific tasks, it was simple. The game of numbers, it seemed, was decided. As war commenced, the humans fought bravely to defend their colonies, but the numbers were against them. The Terran Fleet was destroyed in combat around Proxima Centauri, and colonies fell one after another. The Krillnean Armada advanced methodically, but sustained a far higher rate of losses than initially expected, which while concerning, was overshadowed by the rapid advance to the Human’s home system of Sol. The Battle of Sol (7 BT) was a turning point in the evolution of warfare. Standard practice had been to harvest asteroid, moons, rocky planetoids, and anything available for raw materials to process into Space Ship components. This took time, capital, and abundant resources. With the main Terran shipyards destroyed, and with access to her colonies cut off, the Terran Federation appeared to be teetering on extinction. What the Krillnean armada encountered upon entering the Sol system was not a scrambling mass of scared civilians, but a star system that had been entirely strip mined, and a brand new, incredibly massive fleet of “Warships” waiting for them. The Sol system had always been considered somewhat of an anomaly. It had not one but two asteroid belts surrounding it, one of which harbored several larger planetoids. While these raw materials would have been a boon to most industries, the density of the belts in Sol made harvesting these resources a very laborious and risky endeavor. Even then, those resources would need to be refined methodically, and carefully to ensure no errant debris might strike a vessel or colony, and standard practice was to dump the empty husks of these asteroids into the nearest star, where it may safely be consumed. The Terran Federation had several larger asteroids in stable orbits near their home planet of Earth, most were completely devoid of usable material and were merely awaiting their turn to be sent sunward. For Humanity they became salvation. Instead of building a warship from scratch, Terran engineers crawled over these husks, fitting them with reactors, weapons systems, thrusters, and crude life support systems. When manpower turned out to be lacking, regular civilians pitched in to help, many of them having never performed a spacewalk or heavy construction previously. In total, over 600 such “vessels” were created over the span of a single cycle. Numerous other smaller asteroids were converted into unguided missiles, whose mass proved so effective at defeating point defense and shield systems that they are still in use today. The Krillnean armada of 573 ships and 6-8 million souls was entirely obliterated. While not particularly agile or comfortable, the extremely basic nature of the human warships allowed them to survive attacks from the latest weapons systems, usually with little to no adverse effects. In fact, during the Battle of Sol, the total Terran losses were 237,000 personnel across 7 ships destroyed, and 13 damaged. The Battle of Sol set the stage for the fall of the Galactic Council. As the Terran Federation reestablished control of her colonies and continued the fight towards the Krillnean home worlds, they continued to refine, improve, and produce their new class of vessels. Long since superseded by newer classes of warship, the Nemesis class battleships are still the most decorated vessels in the history of the Terran Alliance. The Nemesis, first of her class, is still in use today and has the honor of being not only the ship which fired the first shot at the Battle of Sol, but also the vessel which destroyed the last enemy ship during the War of Unification between the Terran Federation and the Galactic Councils.	The universe exists in the middle of an explosion. Billions of stars burn and then shed their matter across the void as they burn out. Our species developed from that matter to rule. We clawed our way out of our gravity well and fought any other species that dared to join us in space. Until we came across humans. They are tiny compared to us. Fragile. Insignificant. They cannot bear the energy of stars without protection, even on their world. The void crushes them outside their gravity well, so they developed shelters to explore from. We tore those shelters to pieces before we even recognized what they were. They struck back using matter, which we ignored. They struck back using energy, which annoyed us. Then they struck back using stars. How did such insignificant things harness the power of stars? Somehow they can create them at will. We lost an entire colony in their system before we realized what had happened. Then the war began in earnest. We had fought all others into submission yet could not stop humans. They were too small. Kill one, and a million come next. They breed faster than any other thinking creatures we have found and can live on useless scraps of matter. They fear nothing. We thought to keep them isolated in their system, but an infestation of them hid on our ship until it reached our home. They exploited our infrastructure and used what they could steal to sustain their colony. In that short time, their numbers grew exponentially, and they learned our ways. Once we arrived home, they used that knowledge to ignite suns all over the system to damaging effect. My homeworld is completely overrun now. No one can help me. I write this last message as my orbit decays into the sun. Do not fight humans. They are war.
[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	“Examiner, have you reached any conclusions?” The holo-video lit up in the center of the laboratory. The face of Preator Endex filled the void in the center of the room. “Yes. Praetor. The specimen you provided was intact enough to draw a conclusion,” Examiner Zendex replied. “If I may ask, how was such a faultless specimen procured?” “By accident, Examiner.” Zendex could hear the embarrassment in the Preator’s voice. The Klee were notorious for their ability to plan. To have a complete human specimen simply fall into their possession as an act of luck was an insult to the Praetor’s ability to calculate probable outcomes. Still, it was likely that the additional information to be gleaned from studying a full anatomy could very well prove the turning of the war. “I see.” Zendex obfuscated his disapproval outwardly, while in actual fact he was enjoying the Praetor’s discomfort. No less than twelve successors to the current Praetor had all tried to turn the tide of the galactic conflict. Over fifty cycles, and none had succeeded. For all his braggadocio, Praetor Endex had proven equally incapable of mastering the necessary variables to overcome this foe. Not that it wasn’t a complex problem…. “Please, state your conclusion, then propose the underlying premises,” the Praetor encouraged. “Of course,” Zendex paused, wondering if the magnitude of his discoveries would be fully communicated, much less appreciated by the greater Klee protectorate. “The additional information gleaned from this specimen leads to the conclusion that this war will be over in less than two cycles.” The Praetor bared his mandibles in a sign of satisfaction. “Ah, we have it then. What is your margin of error?” The Examiner balked. To ask the question of an Examiner of such high esteem was almost an insult. “Within the ninety ninth percentile, Praetor.” “Then by all means, state your premises.” It was customary in Klee society to state the conclusion of an encounter first, then reveal the necessary background information informing the deduction. To save on the need for pointless interactions, a subordinate would typically accept the conclusions of an Elder. This was given to the Klee’s exceptional ability to calculate probabilities into several dimensions of thinking. To inquire into the basis for a deduction was to show interest, and thus respect, for the proponent of the conclusion. The Praetor was clearly showing great respect for the Examiner’s presentation. Such deference deserved a thorough exhibition. “I direct your attention to the specimen, Praetor.” The lifeless body of the pale human lay limply on the examining table, its various entrails and organs neatly stacked in a small row next to it. “As you can see from the scorian readout, the Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Exocrine, Muscular and Renal systems of these humans are typical of a class four evolutionary primateon species. Other than the digestive systems ability to vacate a surprising number of toxins, these systems are rather unremarkable...” The presentation continued, analyzing each biological strength and weakness in turn. The Praetor patiently listened. The Klee had conquered thousands of species in galactic combat. No race had been able to withstand their superior minds, being able to calculate and adapt to thousands of permutations and possible outcomes. And so it was supposed to be a simple conquest of this backward human world. Their superior numbers and technology obvious, the Klee had offered the humans a dignified surrender almost simultaneously with their invasion. The Klee war counsel had noted that the humans preferred to rely on diplomacy, which loosely translated basically meant mutual surrender, with neither side a victor. Words were a decent enough tool to fend off aggression in some cases. But without the might to back up those words … the Klee knew better. Despite its 1,000 years of peace with its neighbors, the Klee knew that no diplomacy would be enough to prevent Earth’s capture. At least, they thought they knew. Despite the analytical approach to the invasion, this unremarkable species had left cataclysmic destruction in its wake. Generally, an intergalactic war took one, maybe two cycles to conclude, especially when victory from one side or the other was all but assured. Once both sides concluded that victory was inevitable, a ceremonial surrender was typical. But the current conflict had lasted over fifty cycles, and the waste of resources had nearly drained the empire into insolvency. It wouldn’t be long until the outer systems calculated weakness… These humans did not conform to any known parameters. In most conflicts, multiple circumstances could be calculated, reevaluated, predicted. But not humans. In one iteration, humans would behave conservatively, almost to a fault. Giving ground even when obvious advantages could clearly be seized. In other encounters, they displayed a recklessness and ferocity known only among the unevolved. Fifty cycles later and they were just as impossible to predict as the day the Klee invaded Earth. The Earth invasion was a disaster by any tactical standard. It had been studied, reanalyzed, reinterpreted. But no solid conclusions could be reached. Upon landfall, the humans initially reacted as any other class four primateon. Family units hiding in fear. Communications disrupted. Military responses disorganized. And then, as if signaled by a Praetorean elite, something changed. The humans responded with the ferociousness and recklessness of an unevolved reptile or arachnid. Forces were marshaled imperfectly, but effectively. Counter offensives with no seeming probability of victory nevertheless succeeded. And once some Klee technology was in the hands of the enemy, the situation went all downsystem. Native humans with no military training whatsoever were taking up munitions and retaliating with no regard to their own existence. Elite human units advanced TOWARD certain death. By the time the provisional government envoy arrived to impose judicial order, the humans had routed all 36 expeditionary squads, including the capital ships. How in the nexus they even got up to the fleet centers remains a mystery, as human technology simply wasn’t advanced past placing geosynchronous communicators in their own orbit. To add insult, the humans used the captured fleet to commandeer the undefended bureaucratic envoy just after its arrival. And then? Then they repurposed the envoy to proclaim victory, making the Klee administrative apparatus assume the planet was in conquered status. It wasn’t until a whole cycle had passed until the Klee elite had noticed there wasn’t any tribute. But by then it was too late. The humans had adapted to the technology quickly. Not just to seize and use it, but also perverting Klee technology to suit their own destructive ends. From there, forty-nine cycles of interstellar destruction and chaos across entire systems. Unlike other space-faring species, the humans seem to have no respect for cosmic order. It is as if they must repurpose the universe itself to match their fleeting lifespan. They damage anything in their path to achieve even minor victories. Anger toward a conqueror was to be expected. But the patterns appeared to demonstrate a malice toward the Klee that could not have been predicted from an evolved species. Using space folding technology, they used a Klee warp engine to fold out the orbit of a key military installation, shifting it into the path of a black hole, and damaging the habitability of three separate colonies. They strapped fusion reactors onto refueling pylons and sent them back into the prime nexus, haphazardly destroying or crippling thirteen production outposts. In one engagement, a system neighboring a production facility with no military value was completely destroyed, a seemingly pointless act. But worst of all, in every encounter their soldiers and pilots show no regard whatsoever for their own personal safety, at times letting loose fission and fusion weapons of their own design, which spread fallout throughout half the Klee protectorate. It has made the end of the conflict nearly impossible to manage.	The universe exists in the middle of an explosion. Billions of stars burn and then shed their matter across the void as they burn out. Our species developed from that matter to rule. We clawed our way out of our gravity well and fought any other species that dared to join us in space. Until we came across humans. They are tiny compared to us. Fragile. Insignificant. They cannot bear the energy of stars without protection, even on their world. The void crushes them outside their gravity well, so they developed shelters to explore from. We tore those shelters to pieces before we even recognized what they were. They struck back using matter, which we ignored. They struck back using energy, which annoyed us. Then they struck back using stars. How did such insignificant things harness the power of stars? Somehow they can create them at will. We lost an entire colony in their system before we realized what had happened. Then the war began in earnest. We had fought all others into submission yet could not stop humans. They were too small. Kill one, and a million come next. They breed faster than any other thinking creatures we have found and can live on useless scraps of matter. They fear nothing. We thought to keep them isolated in their system, but an infestation of them hid on our ship until it reached our home. They exploited our infrastructure and used what they could steal to sustain their colony. In that short time, their numbers grew exponentially, and they learned our ways. Once we arrived home, they used that knowledge to ignite suns all over the system to damaging effect. My homeworld is completely overrun now. No one can help me. I write this last message as my orbit decays into the sun. Do not fight humans. They are war.
[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	Log 1.01 - 6462/55 Potential major new biodiversity harvest, Arm 4, stellar coordinates \[classified\]. Approximately 9 million identifiable species, DNA-based. Minor indigenous sapience, no world government, hive mind, or cybernetic control. Not even common language. 1.02 - 6462/56 Received message from imperial satrap, Council of Entities agrees with assessment, harvest of new world moved to top priority, codename Project Windfall. Biodiversity loss on Zor homeworlds considerably graver than generally leaked to non-Council Entities, new harvests to take priority over inorganic material harvests. Changing course to Windfall. 2.01 - 6462/87 Reached Windfall. Harvester ships Ixin, Cath, Roklut expected to arrive by 90-91. Recon drones deployed. 2.02 - 6462/89 Recon drones confirm probe drone. Massive biodiversity lode plus abundant liquid water. No organized opposition. Indigenous sapience in form of tribal/social primates, greater native intelligence than any other non-Zor species yet encountered, rudimentary AI capabilities, but most advanced capabilities used to fight other members of same species. Most advanced weapons are fission type, they hesitate to use them on one another only due to threat of retaliation in kind, but still an impressive accomplishment for a species with no guiding central authority. Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, will set aside additional share of the most bountiful harvest in the last millennium for the Zor if he'll sponsor additional seat on Council of Entities. 2.03 - 6462/92 Harvester ships arrived. Commencing harvest of Windfall. 2.04 - 6462/99 Native primate technology as expected is no match for ours. Multiple ape social colonies ("cities") razed and harvested. Resistance fierce but ineffective. 3.01 - 6462/120 Harvest progressing but slower than expected. Native primates behave in substantially unanticipated ways exposed to new stimuli. No significant trouble expected but we should perhaps pay attention to their social reaction complex as interesting in its own right, not mere biodiversity in a universe in which that always appears to be shrinking. 3.02 - 6462/160 Memo to Entity Zor'lanque, harvest can progress as things stand but additional armed escorts would assist. Native primates ("humans," they call themselves) demonstrate substantial adaptive capabilities, particularly with respect to martial capabilities. As you are aware, our weapons cannot be used by nonmembers of our species due to DNA coding that makes all our weapons cease function if held by an entity not of our species. In less than 50 days, these "humans" came up with the barbarous but effective adaptation of making gloves out of our skins, allowing them to hold our weapons and turn them against us. 3.03 - 6462/161 Humans merit further study after skin-stealing adaptation. Harvested multiple of their soldiers, of various ages, intact. Placed in stasis for further study. 3.04 - 6462/197 Almost all standard harvest protocols for problematic biodiversity surprisingly ineffective with respect to humans. Already considering resorting to Cleanser virus but degradation of the biodiversity haul of Windfall would substantially impair strategic objectives of harvest in the first place. 3.05 - 6462/249 Human population ongoing adaptation proving dangerous. Multiple counteroffensives and countermeasures somehow initiated spontaneously, imitating coordination with no coordinating authority or intelligence. Spontaneous organization of species-wide resistance including against orbital and ecological attacks. Apologies to the Council of Entities, but we cannot leave them alive. Initiating Cleanser virus, programming human DNA as primary target but DNA similarity of human and other biodiversity on this planet means harvest will be dramatically curtailed. 3.06 - 6462/259 - URGENT Cleanser virus largely successful but significant populations of humans remain alive. Moreover, those left alive appear to have sequenced and adapted it to attack us, somehow in the space of ten days. Expeditionary force and harvesters have withdrawn to ships. Will proceed with battle against humans and harvest Windfall with drone tech alone. Analysis at this point is pessimistic; drone tech alone unlikely to prevail given chaotic but frenetic adaptation of human species so far against Cleanser and other rogue biodiversity countermeasures. 4.01 - 6262/272 - URGENT Developing incident in progress in stasis chamber, unscheduled maintenance mode activations, emergency termination sequence malfunctioning. Human soldier prisoners may be loose onboard. 4.02 - 6462/272 - URGENT They are coming. Initiating self destruct. 5.01 - July 3, 2077 - YEAH, PROBABLY STILL URGENT Cool log. Looks like the self-destruct failed though. That kinda sucks. Sucks that we had to use your harvest ships to harvest the remains of most of our own cities, too, but there wasn't much left of them and at least your little flying factories helped us jumpstart our own fleet with all the metal of our old cities. Gotta live somewhere. And the view of Earth from space is still majestic even if y'all fucked it up on the surface. Oh, also, if you're reading this, just FYI ... we're still coming. Got nothing else to do now, and payback's a bitch. Signed, Humanity.	The Terrans had built Universities, hospitals, revolutionized inter-stellar commerce. They worked as ambassadors to negotiate peace and trade deals amongst the galactic community. Their few colonies built on out of the way unhospitable worlds. Their fleet was made of trade vessels, science ships, and pleasure yachts. They had a reputation as bringers of peace, knowledge, and healing. Then came the Garanzan incident. The Garanzan we new to the interstellar community, warlike, domineering, and powerful. Their armada outnumbered the combined forces of the allied races, they conquered whole worlds in a matter of days. When the Garanzan entered Melcap space the Melcap reached out Humanity to help negotiate a peace settlement. The Terrans send their premier ambassador to an arranged peace conference hosted by the Melcap. The entire Garanzan fleet showed up to the appointed meeting station and murdered the Melcap and Terran diplomats and broadcast the gruesome killings across known space. Three days later another Terran ambassador was dispatched to to the Garanzan home world with a single message. "Cease all hostilities at once or the United Terran Forces will declare war on the Garanzan." The Garanzan's sent back his head as a declaration of war. The Garanzan turned their fleets from the Melcap and attacked all known Terran colonies. For six months the Garanzan attacked and butchered humans ill equipped to fight against such military might. But even those fights became brutal battles against insurgencies, suicide attacks, and desperate counter attacks all meant to buy time. While the Allied races stood by and watched they knew Humanities time on the intergalactic stage was up. The Garanzan were too powerful, too numerous, and too blood thirsty to be stopped. Then came Terran Armada. After half of year of holding actions and watching their people die humanity struck back. The Garanzan were assaulting the human space platform Excalibur, a human outpost built for the Alliance to foster learning, trade and diplomacy. The station was a bastion of learning, commerce, and the best hospital in known space. Excalibur station was a massive installation of over one hundred thousand humans. The Garanzan saw the station as a monument to Terran weakness. General Gaulfluax recounts that day; "I ordered targeting on the facilities power generators to bring down their pitiful shields and allow our boarding craft to send reavers onto the station." "I had lead the campaign on the Ceti 4 colony and knew there would be heavy if ineffectual resistance. The humans were inventive and tenacious, but no match for reavers in full battle armor. I wanted to take the station as intact as possible to plunder it's technology. Humans were weak but their technology was far ahead of ours in terms of medicine and science." "Just as the shields faltered and I ordered the attack craft away a massive energy surge was reported above my fleet. A full Terran battle group emerged from space fold in perfect attack formation. You laugh now, but we had no clue then what we were up against." "Admiral McMullen opened hail to my ship and delivered an ultimatum. 'Surrender now or face destruction, you have 3 minutes' and signed off. I laughed, what could a single battle group do against my entire fleet. I stopped laughing after our assault craft were blown out of stars." "Have you every seen a Saturn Knight tear an assault craft apart? They use quantum energy blasts to take down our shields and then just rip the ships apart with their lances. And they can deploy dozens of them, each so small you can't see them on the scopes, I don't know how they do it." "Worse is the main cannon's on their assault ships, an energy beam a mile wide and ten miles long that annihilates anything in it's path. My fleet was torn to shreds after the first volley. To think all it took was six months to build such powerful weapons." General Gaulflaux surrendered after seven and a half minutes of combat. His fleet lost ninety percent of it's ships. The Terran vessels suffered zero losses. After the formal declaration of war Humanity reconstituted it's naval academy and repurposed and expanded the Mars foundries into an orbital ship yard capable of producing the massive warship in under a month. Marines were dispatched to colony worlds knowing they'd never return home to hold back the tides and buy humanity the time it needed to build a fleet capable of taking down the Garanzan. It happened all across the Garanzan empire. Terran battle groups would spacefold into attack position, demand surrender and open fire if no response was given. The Terran war machine turned out ships and crews at such a rate that their enemies were out numbered in just over two years of war. Terran Ambassadors now travel on small naval warships and are flanked at diplomatic events by Saturn Knights. The Terran Armada provides security across a thousand systems. And the Garanzan, they are slowly rebuilding their society with the assistance of the Terran Peace Corp.
[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 still remember the look on Ambassador Ford’s (Betelgeusean Republic’s representative to the former Galactic Councils 300 BT – 5 TA) face when I informed him we had declared war on the pathetic Humans of the Terran Federation. His blue blood drained from his face, leaving a dirty yellow visage which had previously shone a healthy green. The only thing he said was ‘What have you done?’ which I thought wwas just due to Betelgeusean fondness for the cowardly pacifistic species. If only we had known the truth…” – Gragtun’iik’iill, Former Krillnean Ambassador to the Galactic Councils 89 BT – 7 BT Warfare has changed very little since the first slightly complex multicellular organisms began banding together to fight one another over limited resources. The equation generally comes down to who can out produce the other in manpower, supplies, or weapons. For as terrifying and powerful a new weapon system may be, it can still be outclassed by sheer volume. At the dawn of the Terran Alliance, a heavily modified version of this calculation was in use to determine the general effectiveness of galactic empires. The weapon system of the day, as for most navies throughout history, was the battleship. Advanced civilizations, such as The Betelgeusean Republic, were capable of building, crewing, and launching these behemoths in only 50 cycles. In 10 BT the rising Krillnean Empire felt that their armada, while small on the galactic scale, would be well equipped to destroy the peace loving, ever negotiating, Terran Federation. Afterall Terra had only 20 battleships in service, and had not completed a new such vessel in over 150 cycles. Krillnea was able to produce a vessel in as few as 80 cycles, and had a standing navy of over 500 ships. Additionally, due to the sensitive and specialized nature of the systems on board a starship, let alone a warship, a certain level of training and experience was required. This training and practical experience was extremely costly, and could take dozens of cycles for a Human to acquire, but for the long-lived children of the Krillnean Hives, born to carry out specific tasks, it was simple. The game of numbers, it seemed, was decided. As war commenced, the humans fought bravely to defend their colonies, but the numbers were against them. The Terran Fleet was destroyed in combat around Proxima Centauri, and colonies fell one after another. The Krillnean Armada advanced methodically, but sustained a far higher rate of losses than initially expected, which while concerning, was overshadowed by the rapid advance to the Human’s home system of Sol. The Battle of Sol (7 BT) was a turning point in the evolution of warfare. Standard practice had been to harvest asteroid, moons, rocky planetoids, and anything available for raw materials to process into Space Ship components. This took time, capital, and abundant resources. With the main Terran shipyards destroyed, and with access to her colonies cut off, the Terran Federation appeared to be teetering on extinction. What the Krillnean armada encountered upon entering the Sol system was not a scrambling mass of scared civilians, but a star system that had been entirely strip mined, and a brand new, incredibly massive fleet of “Warships” waiting for them. The Sol system had always been considered somewhat of an anomaly. It had not one but two asteroid belts surrounding it, one of which harbored several larger planetoids. While these raw materials would have been a boon to most industries, the density of the belts in Sol made harvesting these resources a very laborious and risky endeavor. Even then, those resources would need to be refined methodically, and carefully to ensure no errant debris might strike a vessel or colony, and standard practice was to dump the empty husks of these asteroids into the nearest star, where it may safely be consumed. The Terran Federation had several larger asteroids in stable orbits near their home planet of Earth, most were completely devoid of usable material and were merely awaiting their turn to be sent sunward. For Humanity they became salvation. Instead of building a warship from scratch, Terran engineers crawled over these husks, fitting them with reactors, weapons systems, thrusters, and crude life support systems. When manpower turned out to be lacking, regular civilians pitched in to help, many of them having never performed a spacewalk or heavy construction previously. In total, over 600 such “vessels” were created over the span of a single cycle. Numerous other smaller asteroids were converted into unguided missiles, whose mass proved so effective at defeating point defense and shield systems that they are still in use today. The Krillnean armada of 573 ships and 6-8 million souls was entirely obliterated. While not particularly agile or comfortable, the extremely basic nature of the human warships allowed them to survive attacks from the latest weapons systems, usually with little to no adverse effects. In fact, during the Battle of Sol, the total Terran losses were 237,000 personnel across 7 ships destroyed, and 13 damaged. The Battle of Sol set the stage for the fall of the Galactic Council. As the Terran Federation reestablished control of her colonies and continued the fight towards the Krillnean home worlds, they continued to refine, improve, and produce their new class of vessels. Long since superseded by newer classes of warship, the Nemesis class battleships are still the most decorated vessels in the history of the Terran Alliance. The Nemesis, first of her class, is still in use today and has the honor of being not only the ship which fired the first shot at the Battle of Sol, but also the vessel which destroyed the last enemy ship during the War of Unification between the Terran Federation and the Galactic Councils.	The Terrans had built Universities, hospitals, revolutionized inter-stellar commerce. They worked as ambassadors to negotiate peace and trade deals amongst the galactic community. Their few colonies built on out of the way unhospitable worlds. Their fleet was made of trade vessels, science ships, and pleasure yachts. They had a reputation as bringers of peace, knowledge, and healing. Then came the Garanzan incident. The Garanzan we new to the interstellar community, warlike, domineering, and powerful. Their armada outnumbered the combined forces of the allied races, they conquered whole worlds in a matter of days. When the Garanzan entered Melcap space the Melcap reached out Humanity to help negotiate a peace settlement. The Terrans send their premier ambassador to an arranged peace conference hosted by the Melcap. The entire Garanzan fleet showed up to the appointed meeting station and murdered the Melcap and Terran diplomats and broadcast the gruesome killings across known space. Three days later another Terran ambassador was dispatched to to the Garanzan home world with a single message. "Cease all hostilities at once or the United Terran Forces will declare war on the Garanzan." The Garanzan's sent back his head as a declaration of war. The Garanzan turned their fleets from the Melcap and attacked all known Terran colonies. For six months the Garanzan attacked and butchered humans ill equipped to fight against such military might. But even those fights became brutal battles against insurgencies, suicide attacks, and desperate counter attacks all meant to buy time. While the Allied races stood by and watched they knew Humanities time on the intergalactic stage was up. The Garanzan were too powerful, too numerous, and too blood thirsty to be stopped. Then came Terran Armada. After half of year of holding actions and watching their people die humanity struck back. The Garanzan were assaulting the human space platform Excalibur, a human outpost built for the Alliance to foster learning, trade and diplomacy. The station was a bastion of learning, commerce, and the best hospital in known space. Excalibur station was a massive installation of over one hundred thousand humans. The Garanzan saw the station as a monument to Terran weakness. General Gaulfluax recounts that day; "I ordered targeting on the facilities power generators to bring down their pitiful shields and allow our boarding craft to send reavers onto the station." "I had lead the campaign on the Ceti 4 colony and knew there would be heavy if ineffectual resistance. The humans were inventive and tenacious, but no match for reavers in full battle armor. I wanted to take the station as intact as possible to plunder it's technology. Humans were weak but their technology was far ahead of ours in terms of medicine and science." "Just as the shields faltered and I ordered the attack craft away a massive energy surge was reported above my fleet. A full Terran battle group emerged from space fold in perfect attack formation. You laugh now, but we had no clue then what we were up against." "Admiral McMullen opened hail to my ship and delivered an ultimatum. 'Surrender now or face destruction, you have 3 minutes' and signed off. I laughed, what could a single battle group do against my entire fleet. I stopped laughing after our assault craft were blown out of stars." "Have you every seen a Saturn Knight tear an assault craft apart? They use quantum energy blasts to take down our shields and then just rip the ships apart with their lances. And they can deploy dozens of them, each so small you can't see them on the scopes, I don't know how they do it." "Worse is the main cannon's on their assault ships, an energy beam a mile wide and ten miles long that annihilates anything in it's path. My fleet was torn to shreds after the first volley. To think all it took was six months to build such powerful weapons." General Gaulflaux surrendered after seven and a half minutes of combat. His fleet lost ninety percent of it's ships. The Terran vessels suffered zero losses. After the formal declaration of war Humanity reconstituted it's naval academy and repurposed and expanded the Mars foundries into an orbital ship yard capable of producing the massive warship in under a month. Marines were dispatched to colony worlds knowing they'd never return home to hold back the tides and buy humanity the time it needed to build a fleet capable of taking down the Garanzan. It happened all across the Garanzan empire. Terran battle groups would spacefold into attack position, demand surrender and open fire if no response was given. The Terran war machine turned out ships and crews at such a rate that their enemies were out numbered in just over two years of war. Terran Ambassadors now travel on small naval warships and are flanked at diplomatic events by Saturn Knights. The Terran Armada provides security across a thousand systems. And the Garanzan, they are slowly rebuilding their society with the assistance of the Terran Peace Corp.

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