Humans Are Weird: Medics

Humans are weird: Medics

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps) Mula didn’t feel the pain at first. He had felt a sharp pinch just above his right leg during the charge across the street but he had ignored it. He had made it about half way across the paved road dodging incoming fire when his entire leg lost all feeling and he tumbled to the ground hard.

Through blurry eyes he saw the rest of his squad continuing to the building opposite the street which had been their target. He saw several of them torn to shreds by plasma fire erupting from nearly every window and yet his squad continued their attack with grim determination.

Mula made to stand and rejoin his comrades in this glorious charge. He made to use his right hand to brace himself and rise once more only to collapse again to the hard ground. Angrily Mula looked at what had stopped him and it was then that it finally dawned on him that his entire right arm up to the third elbow was missing.

He looked at the stump of his arm dumb founded. He could see it was clearly gone, but it felt as if it was still there all the same. Like a dark joke he could even still feel his absent fingers opening and closing despite their remains being scattered several feet away.

More of his brothers were charging across the street around him. They were being cut down like wheat before the scythe and yet they still shouted their battle cries and stormed across their dead.

This was the moment heroes are made.

This was the moment legends were born.

Mula the One Hand, they would call him.

Throughout his entire life Mula had been taught that to die on the battlefield was the greatest honor. His soul would be welcomed into the hallowed halls of Jem Had’a where he would fight eternal with the greatest warriors his people had ever known.

Determined to meet his end with the dignity of a true warrior of the, Mula braced himself on his left arm and made to stand once more. He had nearly risen back to his full height when he felt something grab him from behind and pull him hard.

“Get down you stupid fucker!”

Before Mula knew what was going on he was being dragged backwards. He saw his unresponsive leg limply being dragged before him as he was taken further and further away from the target building. His brothers were still rushing passed him as he was being pulled away as Mula strained his neck turning to see what had grabbed him.

To his surprise it was a human warrior. They wore strange armor adorned with a red cross but carried no weapon. Despite their somewhat frail state they were dragging Mula back to their own lines as the battle raged around them.

While the war had originally been between Mula’s people and the Fentom Alliance it had eventually spilled out into neighboring sectors as the war progressed. Humanity occupied several sectors along the front and had been content to remain neutral in the conflict until Fentom ships began raiding human shipping lanes for supplies. After that humanity sent in several fleets and ground armies to assist Mula’s people bring the conflict to an end.

“Let go of me!” Mula shouted at the human. When they continued to pull Mula away from the battle he began struggling in their grasp. The human became further agitated by this and swatted Mula across the face.

“Hey idiot, if you have a death wish keep me the hell out of it!” they shouted as a rocket exploded nearby showering the pair of them in rubble. The human let go of Mula as a result and he was able to scramble back to his one working foot.

He rejoined the charge across the street, limping on his one good leg and holding his Tatava dagger in his left hand. He made it several steps before he was tackled back to the ground.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

Mula rolled on to his back and saw that it was the same human again.

“Leave me be!” Mula shouted as he tried to dislodge with several sharp kicks. “My destiny awaits me!”

When the kicking did not release them Mula had no other recourse but to swing his Tatava dagger at them. He had judged the distance to not harm them, but close enough to scare them into letting go.

Sure enough as soon as the blade neared the humans face they released him and shuffled backwards. Now free Mula made to stand but was interrupted by the human.

“I hate angry patients.”

Mula looked up just in time to see the human’s fist smashing into their face. The pain sent Mula crumbling back to the ground, his dagger clattering to the ground unceremoniously. The human stood over Mula and he thought that another blow was surely about to fall, but was surprised when instead they began treating his wounds.

“If I try moving you again you’ll bleed out before we make it back.” They said as they started wrapping the stump of what had been his right arm several minutes prior.

“You are keeping me….from my destiny!” Mula said. He had intended to shout it to scare off the human, but found that his voice had become very weak. Now that he had stopped moving he noticed everything about him had become weaker. His muscles struggled to move the way he wanted, his vision was going in and out of focus as he tried to look at the human, even his fingers had started trembling each time he tried to make a fist.

“If it was to die on this shitty dirt ball I have some bad news for you.” Mula saw a half smile flash across the human’s face before a burst of plasma fire flew overhead and she bent over his body to avoid it.

“You would…” Mula began as they returned to fixing his wounds, “dishonor me?”

The human shook their head in frustration as they finished with his arm and moved on to bandaging his leg. Mula noticed his armor had become far more stained with his blood than he had realized when he looked down at it. No doubt that was why he was feeling weaker by the moment.

“If you were truly meant to die this day,” the human said as they aggressively sealed the leg wounds, “do you really think your gods would let one little human stand in the way of a destiny they laid out for you?”

Mula wanted to respond but was struck by the human’s words. In his silence the human finished treating his wounds and waved over another pair of human soldiers.

“You will live to fight another day soldier.”

With those last words Mula felt himself being carried off again as the world started fading to black. The last sight he saw before it consumed him was that of the human who had treated him rushing off to tend to another fallen warrior. ————————–

The history books of Mula’s people would indeed speak of his name and deeds.

They recorded how after the battle he had been taken to an orbital hospital ship that had come with the human fleets. How he had been given new prosthetic limbs and had initially been shunned and mocked for surviving the battle by his fellow warriors.

It also tells how Mula endured all of the humiliation thrust upon him by remembering the last words the human who had saved his life had said to him.

“You will live to fight another day…..”

No longer was Mula seeking out his glorious death on the battlefield. He lived to fight another day, and then another, and another, and another, and so on.

Mula survived over three hundred battles fought over the span of sixty years. He was the one who drove his Tatava dagger into the heart of Overlord Jih inside his own citadel, he would be the first to breach the walls of the crystal city of Hama Zure, and he would be the one single handedly hold the line at the battle of Black Field.

In his life he earned more glory living then he ever could have won by dying in that nameless street so many years ago. His name was spoken of in reverence and his deeds carved into the eternal stone of honor for all to see.

Near the end of his life he wished to thank the human who had saved him all those years ago. So he set out and using what contacts he had acquired, sought out his savior.

His search led him to the fields of honored dead on the human homeworld.

The human who had saved him was called “Kayley Gillevet”, and she had died the very same day that they had met.

From what Mula was able to find out was that Kayley had continued saving those she could during the closing hours of the battle and became separated from the allied forces. She gathered those she could into a housing building and tried her best to stabilize them. The enemy forces thought that they were still active combatants and leveled the building rather than attempting to storm it.

Looking down at this tiny piece of stone with her name carved into it Mula couldn’t help but feel sadness.

Here had been a warrior who had stormed the fields of death not to take life, but to save it; and this was all that left to remember her while his name was taught to his people’s children in schools. Her name carved into a weathered stone barely legible anymore.

He placed his prosthetic hand on Kayley’s stone and spoke softly.

“I did what you asked.” He said as tears began to run down his face. “I lived to fight another day.”

Human Enough as You Are

What happens when humans start feeling the pressure of living up to their reputation that's spread across the galaxy?

A combination of mental health-related ideas from a few different comments that have been left on here, ao3, and youtube.

***** ***** *****

When Chek found the team’s resident human, he seemed… unwell. She’d seen the human do strange breathing techniques before bed or during infrequent quiet moments at their shared station.

But this was different. She couldn’t exactly say why, but it was very different in a way that she could just feel. The way he was breathing was not comforting. Something was wrong.

“Human Dave? Have… have you been here the whole time?” Chek didn’t add that she and the others had been looking for him for the past 30 mentiks, and had been growing increasingly annoyed and worried as time went on. Something told her that it would be counterintuitive of whatever was going on right now.

Dave, who had been staring at her blankly ever since she’d come around the corner into the kitchen, closed his eyes and nodded silently. Chek knew that was a common affirmative gesture humans used, but her worry only grew. Human Dave normally was a very vocal and upbeat character on the team. His silence didn't’ sit well with her now.

Dave gave her no further information, just sat on the floor, propped up against the wall, breathing in slowly through his nose and then even slower out his mouth. Unsure of what to do, and not wanting to just keep standing awkwardly there in the silence, she eventually sat adjacent to him on the floor. Human Dave kept breathing.

Whatever was going on, Chek realized she wasn’t sure what proper conduct she should follow. What were the rules of etiquette when your team’s human was found hiding alone and on the verge of tears?

But how to do that? Well, Check thought, what better way to help a human than to do it in the most human way possible: jump in head-first and hope for the best.

As inconspicuously as she could, Chek sent a message to the rest of the team to let them know she’d found Dave and would return as soon as they could. She immediately silenced her communicator after that, knowing her team members would want more information. They’d get it in time. Her main priority right now was helping Dave get through… whatever was going on right now.

The way Human Dave stared at her, she almost began wondering how best to back-pedal out of this. She knew humans were typically very prideful of their strength and prowess. Had she over-stepped by insinuating that he was weak and even needed her help?

“I can tell something is wrong, but I don’t know what. Dave, how can I best lend aid to you now?”

Dave inhaled sharply in a way that sounded like it moved a lot of mucus around in his nasal cavity. It wasn’t the most pleasant sound, but Chek didn’t really have much time to think about that because she realized Dave’s eyes were leaking.

“Oh no, are you hurt?” Chek was back on her six legs in an instant. “Are your eyes injured? Is that why you’ve been hiding?!” That would make sense, she thought to herself, if something was wrong with his eyes and he couldn’t see, bunkering down in a safe, defensible position was a smart move. She moved forward to carefully and as comfortingly as she could manage, grab his hand. “I can get you to the med bay. I can guide you there if you need me. Or maybe I should go there and bring… someone who… can…”

“I’m fine, Chek, I’m fine,” Dave finally chuckled, though the grin in his voice was quickly fading again. The grin on his face melted away soon after. “Actually, no. I’m not.”

Chek trailed off as she realized, to her great confusion, that Human Dave was now laughing. Well, not quite laughing. It started small and didn’t grow much, nowhere close to his usual loud and infectious laugh, but there it was something.

“Human Dave?” Chek looked over the human in question, now completely lost. Here she’d been only cycles ago thinking she was finally understanding humans and their quirks. She apparently didn’t know as much as she thought she did.

Chek blinked a few of her eyes in confusion. “Not what?”

Chek stared at him.

Dave swallowed and it looked like his chest visibly tightened. After a short moment, he began breathing deeply again in that strange way she’d found him doing earlier.

It finally dawned on her. His breathing. He’s trying to calm down. But unlike before, he’s not calming down for bed or meditating, he’s trying to calm down from something. But what? She looked around at the kitchen. There was nothing here to scare him. There were no attackers or visible danger. What had him so stressed and riled?

“You’re not what?” Chek inquired, her worry for her teammate leaked into her voice. “Please Dave, help me understand. What’s going on?”

The pattern of Dave’s breathing broke. His deep breaths became more shallow and rapid. It was more like he was trying to choke down air. His exhales were mixed with his voice in desperate cries like he was in pain.

“I’m not… I’m not…”

Chek watched, frozen, as Dave balled up his fist and slammed them on the floor next to him. He choked on his breaths half a moment more until he finally was able to gasp another mouthful and began trying to regulate his deep breathing technique again. Chek said nothing. What could she say? She was completely at a loss.

Finally, Dave was able to speak again, though it was quiet and full of pauses as if he was looking for the right words to say.

“I’m… I… feel like I’m a failure. I’m… I’m not… humans are supposed to be so strong and fearless and smart and great and all. And you… when you guys requested a human you… you probably thought you were… getting a good one… like all the stories. I… I’m trying, but I feel like… you could have gotten any human assigned, but instead… and there are so many who could have been here instead. They’d probably do so much better. Be so much braver. I feel like… I’m lying to everyone just by being here… and that you guys just haven’t realized it yet…”

Dave continued talking for a while more. Chek could only understand bits and phrases here and there after a while, but she let him talk on for as long as he needed. He needed to talk. He needed to feel heard. And she needed to process what she heard.

Dave felt afraid. Not only of some of the dangers they had to face in their jobs on the team but also afraid of his team rejecting him. Or rather, afraid that he wasn’t living up to his team’s ideals of humans and that would lead to them rejecting him. It sounded like it had been eating away at him in his mind for some time.

How had she not seen that? How had no one seen that? Human Dave had joined their team decacycles ago. They’d been so excited to have a human on the team and when Dave showed up, his integration with the team seemed so smooth and fine. Sure there’d been odd moments now and again. He’d freeze momentarily before a task, but that was expected with anyone starting a new role. He was friendly and fun, but there’d be times when it seemed like he was zoning out, or that he was physically there, but his mind was partecs away. There’d likely been numerous things that could have been signs of what was really bothering Dave that no one had noticed. After all, humans were known to be a bit weird now and again, so no one probably shook a whisker when Dave was showing signs that something wasn’t quite right. Everyone assumed he was fine. And Dave was breaking under the pressure of making sure everyone kept assuming that.

It was quiet again in the kitchen. Dave’s eyes were pointed directly at his feet. They were still leaking slowly, but if he wasn’t worried about it, then Chek figured it wasn’t something she needed to get a medic for. Instead, she sat down next to Dave. Even though the human, when standing, was much taller than her, while they were both sitting, they were relatively on the same level.

Dave’s deep breathing was more regular now. More like how it normally was, but still not quite right. She breathed along with him for a while. Human lungs take in much more air than Kreechen lungs, but she did her best to try to match him.

After a moment, she paused and smiled. “I remember the cycle you arrived. We’d all been so excited to have a human on the team.” She looked over at him, but he still had his eyes locked on his feet. She continued.

“We’d all done some research in preparation. We knew humans came in lots of shapes, sizes, styles, and temperaments. We wanted to make a good first impression, so we made a bunch of foods we’d read were popular on Earth.”

Dave, while still not looking up, did appear to have the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. He remembered that day too.

“We tried to get as many ingredients as we could that were safe,” Chek continued, “and looked up as many replacement or alternatives as we could that we thought made sense in the recipes.” The grin on Chek’s face slipped almost comically into an overexaggerated scowl. “Oh my stars, I can’t remember what went wrong, but I do remember the smell. Augh! It took cycles to get rid of it! It was terrible!”

Dave chuckled and shook his head slightly. “It tasted even worse.”

They both chuckled for a moment. It wasn’t at Dave’s normal energetic and vibrant levels, but it was something. Even after they both settled back into silence, Chek could feel that something was different now. Better somehow.

Chek sighed and thought of how to continue. She could tell that her next words would be important and needed to be selected carefully.

“It was such a relief that despite our less than perfect efforts, you seemed to think no less of us. Flarg, you even ate most of that dish!”

Dave interrupted with a sound that was a mix between a hum and a whine. He glanced at Chek then back to his feet, then back again. “Actually,” he began, then stopped. His mouth would open for a moment, but no sound came out. Finally, he sighed and closed his eyes. “If I’m totally honest with you, I only ate like three tiny bites. I threw most of it away when no one was looking.”

Then burst into laughter.

“By the stars!” she nearly howled. Her laughter nearly shook her tiny body, but she couldn’t stop it. From the looks of it, it was spreading a bit to the human at her side who was at first startled, then loosened up enough to laugh along.

“You threw it… you threw it… away!” Chek managed to get out between laughs. “Oh gilded moon plates, that explains so much! Ohhhh, okay. Let me breathe a bit. Wow. Oh, we were all worried we’d sentenced you to the medical ward for your first few cycles with us! Then we figured you’d managed to stomach it because you’re human.” Chek tried to catch her breath as she straightened a few errant hairs.

“Ohhhh, stars, okay. Anyway. As I was saying,” she looked at Dave who this time met and kept her gaze. “We’d been so worried about making a good first impression. We wanted to stand up to all the expectations you probably had of us. We felt terrible when that didn’t go as planned, and apparently, it was worse than we thought…

“But regardless of that, you were so kind. You not only got right to work on the team, you went right ahead with befriending and bonding with us. You shared yourself with us and were genuinely interested in our lives and who each of us were, not just what skills or roles we fulfilled. You were like some kind of glue that we didn’t even know we needed. Before you came, we were a team, but ever since you arrived we’ve been more. We’ve been like a family.”

Chek rested a small hand on Dave’s arm. She knew that physical touch was an important and powerful communication tool for many humans and that Dave was no exception. “This team wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t have you. Whatever you need, we’ve got your back covered, just like you always cover ours.”

Dave said nothing and broke eye contact, but didn’t turn away. Chek waited for him to speak, but after a few moments, it didn’t seem like he was going to just yet.

Chek looked down at her feet. She felt a bit of frustration bubble up in her core. She was certainly no expert in Kreechen mental health, let alone mental health for humans, but for just this one moment, she wished she could call upon all the expertise she needed to know what to help. But she couldn’t, so she’d have to settle with what little she could do and hope it was enough.

“I don’t know what all you’re going through, Dave,” she started, “but you should know that this team loves you. We could have been assigned any number of humans, and who knows how any of them would have fit with us? No idea. But the thing is, you were the one that showed up to eat our terrible attempt at making human food. You’re our human. You, and all the things that, good, bad, or neutral, make you you.”

Chek paused to wait for Dave to respond. But he didn’t. She watched his face. She considered herself pretty adept at reading human facial emotions by now, but she had a hard time pinning down what Dave was feeling. If anything, it looked like several emotions were at war across his features.

Without knowing completely what she was going to say, she opened her mouth.

She barely finished the sentence before she broke into laughter. To her immense relief, Dave laughed too. When Dave’s stomach made a strange growling noise, they both laughed even harder.

“It’s okay to not always be running at your 100% you know. No one on this team is, and no one expects it of you. Whatever you imagine you’re supposed to be, or what you think we expected you to be, it doesn’t matter. Because, well, you’re you instead! You’re our human.” She leaned in with a mock-serious look, “And you better be nice to our human, or well, or else we’re gonna have problems!”

“If I’m understanding that right,” Chek started after she settled down a bit again, “you’re pretty hungry?”

Dave chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, guess so. I… I guess I’ve been so upset lately, I kind of forgot to eat.”

***** ***** *****

Chek “tsk" 'd. Leave it to a human to even have the ability to forget to eat. She looked around the room. “Well, we’re in the kitchen now. Anything you want while we’re here?”

Dave’s eyes scanned the area with a hum. A smile broke across his face slowly. “You know, since you brought up that meal you all made me my first day, I think I’m kind of in the mood for some stroganoff.”

Chek’s face scrunched up slightly. “Is that how that dish is pronounced?” Dave nodded with a smile. Chek got up and walked further into the kitchen with Dave following. “Do we even have ingredients to make it now? I don’t really want a repeat of… last time.”

“Just about.” Dave opened the walk-in cooler where various food supplies for each species on the team were stored in separate compartments. “And the ones we don’t, I know the proper substitutions.”

Chek wasn’t 100% convinced, but at this point, the fact that Dave was up and about and seemed to be doing much better than when she found him, she wasn’t going to stop him now.

While she waited for the human to gather the ingredients he needed, she checked her comm device and saw she’d missed several messages after she’d relayed that she’d found Dave. Everyone wanted to know where he was and what was going on.

“Hey Dave,” Chek looked up as the human in question came out of the cooler with his hands full, “the rest of the team’s been worried about you. I told them I found you and you’re okay, but before I tell them where we are, do you feel up to having company right now?”

Dave paused and considered her for a moment. He opened his mouth and for a moment didn’t say anything, but finally nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I think I’m good now, or I will be.” He set his ingredients on the countertop and took another deep breath. “Besides, cooking really helps me calm down, and” he laughed, sounding more and more like his old cheerful self, “if they come, maybe I can teach everyone how to make stroganoff without having to wear a gas mask by the end!”

Chek sent a response to the rest of the team. Their human was going to be okay, but for now, needed a bit extra love and support. Thankfully, that was something the rest of the team could do much easier than they could cook human food.

Author's Note:

Sometimes feel like what we're doing or who we are isn't enough. This was in some ways therapeutic for me to write because it's something I feel sometimes too. We all have moments like Dave where we need to breathe deeply and slowly and be reminded, or remind ourselves that we are enough. There is no one "right" way to human. There is no one "right" level of energy, effort, or perfection that we need to be at to human.

I love you, you funky and precious human. You're doing great

To whoever is reading this right now and needs to hear this: You are enough. Right now. Take a deep breath and breathe out slowly. Do it as many times as you need and remind yourself that each day is different, and so are you.

Don't forget to be a Chek for yourself when you're being a Dave.

Humans are Weird: Black Fleet Part IV

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps) Humans are Weird: Black Fleet Part 4

Passage from the Book of Terra

“And as the gods looked down they spoke unto us

“We have given unto you, our favored sons and daughters, a world of your own.

She will give to you food so you and your sires grow strong shelter so you may endure the ravages of time, and wonders beyond your imagination that will fill you with purpose that you never knew so you may one day reach out into the night sky with your hands and pluck the very stars themselves.”

In the ages to come we ravaged our world in war, soaked its seas in toxic sludge, and choked the skies with fumes that snuffed the very air from our lungs. Yet the gods did not intervene to correct us as it was our world to do with as we pleased; and if it was our desire to turn our paradise into ash then who were they to stop us?

For all our stubbornness we did learn from our mistakes and in time we sought to undo the harm we had done. Generation by generation we rolled back the hands of time that had counted down to our extinction until finally our paradise was reborn once more and our sires rejoiced at the bounty they were born into. “ ——————————————————

Jum looked out the station window as the cargo freighter slowly passed by. Though it was but a fraction of the stations size it still was one of the largest ships Jum had seen in a while and he continued watching it as it approached the nearby jump gate.

Propping up his mop under his chin he watched the gate start to power up. Strands of pure energy began slowly reaching out and wrapping themselves around the cargo ship reminding Jum of a ancient sea beast pulling its prey to the murky depths.

As the final strand grasped the ship the vessel was pulled through the gate at unimaginable speeds and flung across the stars to the next jump gate that would catch it and safely deposit it back into real space.

With the excitement gone Jum picked up his mop and resumed his work cleaning up the observation wing of the station. It was one of the few wings of the massive station that always received a larger than usual amount of foot traffic. Wayward travelers and tourists would often come to the wing and watch ships coming and going to pass the time while a variety of peddler’s setup makeshift shops on carts and sell their wares to whoever was stupid enough to buy such cheap merchandise.

The offset of such a situation was that with so many people in one place it was also one of the dirtiest locations on the station; something Jum was altogether aware of as he finished cleaning up his third pile of vomit for the morning. Some travelers just couldn’t handle their cheap liquor Jum thought to himself.

Just as Jum had finished wiping up the mess and removing the last of the warning signs he looked up and noticed something strange. There were several dozen travelers, peddlers, and even stations staff all looking out the view window.  Jum assumed it must be because another massive ship was passing by, but when he turned around to see he froze in fear.

Warning sirens began blaring and the station keeper’s voice broadcasted from the loud speakers built into the walls.

“This station is now code black. All station personnel report to your stations. All travelers please report to the nearest shelter. I repeat, this station is now code black. All station-“

The staff were moving before the station keeper’s voice had even finished, their training leaving them in no doubt of what was about to happen next. The travelers on the other had were like animals caught in floodlights. They stood frozen looking out the giant windows like the statues decorating the palace of the emperor. Slowly one traveler here and there began reacting and started pushing their way through the crowd, breaking the fragile calm and replacing it with a mass panic as everyone began sprinting out of the observation wing.

Travelers were thrown to the floor and trampled to death in their frenzied attempts to find shelter. They began screaming and wailing, giving voice to their fear and drowning out the voice of the station keeper who continued issuing orders to the staff and travelers alike.

Jum stood transfixed at the window; the mop having fallen from his hands smacking against the floors he had just finished cleaning. His eyes were locked on what was outside the station, and it was only when the security shutters activated and sealed off the viewing windows behind three feet of solid metal was his trance broken and replaced with the impending dread that had taken hold of everyone else.

The Black Fleet had arrived. The humans…..had arrived. —————————————

“Our actions today will determine if our holy crusade will come to an end in the next few days, or the next few years.” Marshall tapped several keys into his armors console unit. A visual display of the station appeared on the visors of the rest of his boarding party so they could follow along with the mission objectives.

“We will storm this station, neutralize all heretics within, and secure it for our technicians to reverse engineer.”

“Is it not said in the book of Terra that “The hands of the faithful must never touch the constructs of the faithless, for its sins shall stain their hands with the mark of heresy”?”

Marshall didn’t need to look up to see which of his men had questioned him. He was all too aware that Filip was the most devoted of their ranks and was considered by the rest of his men to be a zealot. Were it not for his skill in combat Marshall would have never had such a fanatic for this mission, but he needed the best to ensure its success.

“It is also written,” Marshall countered “that there is no better death for a heretic than at the hands of their own sins.” He pointed to the looming station and the massive jump gate holding anchor some distance away from it.

“With the roads they have laid across the stars with the bones of their victims shall we continue our holy work and burn a path of retribution back to their lair to cast their empire into the darkness of the void just as they have done to our ancestors.”

This seemed to placate the zealous Filip who clasped his hands together to form a circle and bowed his head.

“In Terra’s name, we shall avenge the lost.” He spoke.

“Lost but not forgotten.” The rest of the squad replied.

With that dealt with Marshall resumed the plan explanation.

“Thirty seven boarding parties will hit the station from all sides and take control of key station functions.” He highlighted the target assigned to his squad. “Our target is what we believe to be the environmental control unit located here.”

“To destroy?” another of the team, Holland if he knew correctly, asked.

Marshall shook his head. “We are to hold it until the station is secure; we cannot risk damaging any systems that may render the station inoperable.”

He turned off the display and fixed each of his squad members with a stare to impart how serious this order was. “Destruction of the station machinery is to be kept to a minimum so mind your shots and if you are unsure go hand to hand.”

The squad nodded their acknowledgement as the thirty second warning lights lit up.

“Take heart,” Marshall said as his crash webbing tightened around his armor, “if we succeed today we will lay waste to their homeworld tomorrow.” ————————————–

Jum’s fists hammered on the shelter’s doors.

“Let me in you bastards!” he shouted as he smashed his fists bloody against the bulkhead.

The sounds of gunfire were getting closer now. Jum turned his head and he could see the muzzle flashes lighting up the corridor he had just come from.

“ARGH!”

Letting our an angry bellow he smashed his fist against the shelter bulkhead once more before sprinting down the corridor to the next shelter. His several lungs all burned from stress and his muscles cried out as if they were being ripped apart with every stride he took; but the fear of what spreading throughout the station gave him strength to keep running.

As he rounded a corner he ran head first into a squad of station security heading in the opposite direction. Jum fell back harshly to the floor while the soldier he hit adjusted his helmet and glared down at him.

“You fraking idiot!” The guard he ran into shouted as several more of the detachment brought up their guns to bear but lowered them once they saw Jum wasn’t their enemy.

“They’re behind me!” Jum spoke, his voice riddled with hysteria that was on the verge of breaking what was left of his mental state. “They’re coming!”

The security guard he hit peered round the corner then back at Jum.

“How many?” he asked him. Jum tried to rise to his feet and continue running but the soldier grabbed him and pinned him against the wall.

“How many!?”

“Twenty,” Jum stammered, his eyes darting back the corridor he came from as the gunfire was getting louder, “at-at least twenty of them!”

Looking amongst themselves, the station security became uneasy; the one holding him letting Jum go and motioning to the rest.

“Pull back down the corridor to crossroads and set up an ambush.”

As the squad began pulling back the soldier he bumped looked at Jum. “I suggest you come with us if you don’t want to die.”

Jum debated his options until his train of thought was abruptly shattered by a loud explosion followed by several scores of screams as the human weapons fired bursts.

Picking himself up he sprinted after the retreating security detail thanking whatever gods had saved him from the massacre now unfolding. The humans must have breached the shelter bulkhead and were now slaughtering everyone who had taken refuge there.

Jum followed the security detail as they double timed through the twisting series of corridors. The voice of the station keeper had stopped transmitting several minutes ago and the only sound now heard through those once vibrant hallways was the violent sounds of gunfire and screams of the dying.

In his desperate sprinting to keep pace with the security detail he failed to notice the debris littering the floor and tripped over a fallen metal beam. Jum went face first into the metal decking, several painful cracking sounds ringing in his ears.

He hurried himself back to his feet but saw that the security forces were no longer in sight.

“Hey!” Jum shouted, but stopped himself from saying more as scything pain shot through his jaw from the action.

Not wasting time he continued running to the corridor junction the squad leader had mentioned until he arrived at the crossroads. It was a wide space that sat at the intersection of four major traffic corridors leading to engineering, docking, storage, and the environmental station.

Several scores of security personnel were present hurrying themselves by moving whatever they could to block off three of the four corridors. Only the corridor to the environmental control station was left open and Jum saw that a steady stream of other security details were pouring in. Whatever else was happening on the station it looked like that at least that area was still secured.

A guard walked up to Jum and slammed a gun into his chest.

“Man the barricade.” They said as they moved off and began handing out weapons to other travelers and non-combat staff that had made it this far.

“But I’m not trained for this.” Jum called out to the guard, fumbling with his weapon as he did so.

The guard turned to him and replied “They don’t care if you armed or not, to them you’re just a target.” They stepped back and looked Jum dead in the eye. “Are you going to be one that stands there and gets holes punched through ya, or one that has the nerve to shoot back?”

Jum looked down at his weapon, debating the answer, but was denied his response.

“Here they come!” one of the guards shouted.

Everyone who had been assembling the barricade grabbed their weapons and ducked behind it. One of the guards grabbed Jum and hauled him over into cover as the humans opened fired.

Their rounds tore through the barricade like it was made of paper and Jum watched guards next to him turn to pink mist as the rounds ripped them apart. The remaining guards returned fire with their plasma rifles, sending bolts of plasma hurtling down the exposed corridor into the advancing humans.

Jum hefted his weapon and began firing blindly over the lip of the barricade, too afraid to expose his head. He held down the trigger and felt the rifle recoil with each blast until it was empty. He pulled it back and looked at it, unsure how to add another clip into the weapon.

A stray round burst through the barricade, missing his head by a mere inch, and impacted the rifle. It shattered into a thousand pieces and sprayed Jum with a shower of singed metal. He cried out as the shards embedded themselves in his skin, each one burning him like the sting of a Jacata fire insect.

He sprawled to the floor, screaming in pain, clawing at his face to pull the metal fragments out.  The motion was to save his life as the entire barricade blew outward violently. Jum saw through pain filled eyes the human soldiers began advancing on the barricade in a steady line. Plasma bolts either bouncing off their armored suits or leaving tiny craters.

Seeing the futility of attempting to stop such monsters, Jum gathered his wits and made for the only safe spot left on the station. ————————————-

“I told you to limit yourself to short bursts!”

Marshall grabbed hold of Holland and slammed him into the wall, the force of the impact bulking the metal. “I gave you no permission to use explosive grenades!”

The rest of his squad was steadily advancing on the flimsy barricade at the end of the corridor as the remaining security forces began to route.

Holland’s helmet refused to meet Marshall’s stare. “Our objective is around the corner, it seemed the fastest way to reach it.”

“We are so close to our objective and you think using explosives is a good idea?!”

Holland did not give an answer. Marshall let go of his subordinate and pointed back down the corridor they had just come from.

“You will guard that corridor until I say otherwise.” Marshall said coldly.

“Yes sir.”

With that Holland doubled back and Marshall returned his attention to the rest of the battle. His squad had entered the intersection and was dispatching the remaining guards with ease.

Their weapons were powerful, but the armor he and his warriors wore had been manufactured to disperse the plasma energy on impact leaving it at half the power it would normally have. The security teams they had faced off against had not been able to fell a single one of his warriors. Gravely injure some, but not enough to leave their lives in danger and so they had been left behind while the rest continued the advance.

“Intersection secured.” One of his team called out.

Marshall casually pushed aside a large cargo container that had blocked his path and joined the rest of his squad. The area was littered with burning debris, shattered metal bits here and there, and a impressive amount of dead or dying bodies. Marshall saw some of the guards still twitching and casually brought his heavy boot down upon their skulls, cracking them like walnuts beneath his weight.

“Several of the guards fled down there” Filip said as he approached Marshall. “I believe that is the environmental control units we are after.”

Marshall took in Filip’s words as he approached another dying alien. This one had one of its legs shot off at the knee and was trying to crawl away as Marshall came closer.

“Stow your weapons.” Marshall said calmly as he bent down and pulled up with his hand grasping its neck. “Kill everyone inside with your knives or your hands.”

Marshall watched the alien struggle in his grasp, feebly clawing at his armored hand to get free. He watched it struggle vainly for a few more moments, enjoying the sight, before twisting his thumb slightly and crushing the vile alien’s windpipe. He let it fall from his hand back down to the ground and left it there gasping and turned to face Filip.

“I want this understood.” Marshall said softly, fixing Filip with a similar stare he had given Holland. “If I hear a single explosion or round being fired by our guns in there, and find the machines have been damaged; I will rip your body apart and use the broken pieces to mend it.”

Filip nodded his understanding. “The gates to hell shall be cast asunder, and the armies of the righteous shall pour in to vanquish the evils that lay.”

With that the squad hurried down the final corridor into the environmental chamber while Marshall stayed behind to finish off the remaining survivors. As he executed the stragglers one by one he began receiving a continuous stream of updates from the other boarding parties.

The power plant had been secured, so had the control room, docking bays, and the storage area. Resistance was still being encountered in the habitation blocks, and there were still several more shelter units that needed to be cracked open to exterminate those inside.

None of these were as important as the one objective he needed to hear to know this had all been worth it. Marshall began to feel a growing dread in his heart at the possibility that this had all been for naught when finally he got confirmation.

“Gate control has been secured; I repeat, gate control has been secured.”

With this last confirmation Marshall let out a sigh of relief.

“Next stop, the Etheral homeworld.”  

——————————————— Passage from the Book of Terra: “The favored of the gods did not come without its complications. Those around us coveted our paradise, our status, and the love of the gods.

They looked upon our world, our birthright, with blackhearts and evil eyes until one day they emerged from the void and struck us down.

With fire from the night’s skies they burned our homes, turned our families and friends to ash, and sundered our temples until nothing remained but ruin.

And so we took to the skies, sailing past their fleets of burning fire, and threw ourselves into the void.

We fled our world, our home, our refuge; but we swore that one day we would return.

One day we would bring fire and wrath unlike the galaxy had ever seen upon those that had wronged us.

One day we would shatter our enemy’s armies and scatter their vile fleets.

One day we would set foot upon our holy world once more, safe in the knowledge that the great injustice had finally been undone.

Praise be to Terra, and for the lost who will not be forgotten.”

The Brevity of Human Life

What if a century  is a short time for every other alien race? They all for one reason or another, have evolved to live for multiple centuries, some more vegetative species for perhaps measuring time in millennia? 

An alien spending most of his time bewildered at the speed at which humans live their lives, making decisions impulsively, without thoroughly researching or contemplating options. Terrified at the speed at which humans change their world, change themselves, terrified at the reckless way humans make life changing decisions. “life is short, they tell him.”

An alien who constantly spends his time correcting himself, unable to stop referring to his long dead friend’s descendants by their ancestors names. Unable to prevent himself from recording each new generation so that he may relive every fleeting precious moment.

An alien revisiting a tourist attraction on a human controlled planet, only to be confused and totally lost by how it has changed. Decades have passed, a passerby tells him. The original owners of the land died, and the next owners had other ideas about location.

An alien becoming frustrated by all the different researchers who work with him; every time he starts to get used to one; they disappear and are replaced. He suspects that he is not well liked until he finds out that his previous collaborators mostly retired or died.

An alien being amazed at the callousness of human regard towards death; something to be mourned for sure, most of the time. The severity of a reaction to the death of other humans is not standard, humans ignore deaths occurring across the world, they only really care when it happens to those close to them. To the alien, the death of one of them is almost a national tragedy, it happens so rarely. “life’s a bitch and then you die” is a phrase he comes to hate.

An alien realising that his human friend is not pretending to be old; he is becoming wrinklier and slower and weaker and quieter. In less than half a century his human friend has grown and gone through his prime. He becomes more protective, more clingy, insisting on spending as much time with the human as possible. 

Entire communities of aliens desperately attempting to increase the human life-span but to no avail; extending life is an entirely new field of science! Why on earth would any of these ancient species need to extend their lives; some of them probably immortal under the right circumstances. The entirety of extra-terrestrial society becomes obsessed with prolonging their human friends existence.

Memo 496: Regarding human mating rituals

Recorded by Galactic representative pharoadosh of the echelonions

For reasons I refuse to consider many of you have been asking for information regarding human courtship rituals particularly how to tell if the parties involved are interested in pursuing a relationship of some sort. Such data has never been recorded and I was forced to consult with cosmic defender 349728. The simple answer regarding human mating rituals is no one knows.

The male cannot accurately predict when the female is interested and vice versa. Their garments colors are meaningless to their own species, worn more for there own enjoyment rather then the enticement of suitable mates. Furthermore, they will change their garments for a variety of reasons, one of which is the attraction of potential mates but it could just as easily be the individual likes this coverings fit better. The humans may or may not have pheromonal capabilities, if they do they are completely unaware of this facet of their biology. Humans will put effort into looking appealing for no reason other than it is expected of them.

Humans will engage in playful verbal bantering and compliments, which may be a sign of interest or it may be a sign that they absolutely do not see you as a potential life partner. Furthermore, humans have been known to invite each other for potentially romantic outings as friends with no romantic interests. And this does not even touch on the tribal differences between mating rituals in the different tribes of mankind. As always this memo is not to be referenced with the subject of the memo

ADDENDUM: no I will not ask the human what he personally finds attractive. Not only would that be wildly inappropriate as I am his superior officer but I do not like his species

Humans are weird: Fast Food

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

Alien: Where is this king of burgers? Human: Planning of fighting him are we? Alien: I shall claim his crown for my own. Human: *Walks over to counter and talks to cashier* Human: *Comes back with cardboard crown* Human: He was too scared to face you so surrendered it. Alien: *Looks at crown on, gets teary eyed* Alien: Finally! I have a crown! Alien: My father will let me return to my homeworld! Human: Christ this took a turn for serious. ———————-

Alien: Be careful friend human… Alien: That man in the corner has not stopped watching us since we entered. Human: *Turns to look* Human: That is a statue of a clown in a suit. Alien: I can feel his evil presence from here. Human: I can’t argue with that with a body count like his. ———————–

Alien: Why is this jack in a box? Human: Well you see- Alien: Is it the same as being in the closet? Human: What? Alien: Is he afraid to express his true emotional state of being? Human: No, that’s not- Alien: *Stands up and starts shouting* Alien: Where is this Jack! I must give him a hug and tell him everything will be alright!!! ————————–

Alien: Why would I want to eat here? Human: What’s wrong with here? Alien: You are advertising food made in the cold depths beneath your city streets. Human: Look, the name doesn’t actually mean it was made in a sub- Human: *Pauses to think* Human: Actually with how it tastes I can’t blame you for thinking like that. ———————-

Alien: Your people are sick monsters. Human: I knew this already, but for any particular reason? Alien: You stole all of the wings from every buffalo! Human: In our defense, they were delicious. ——————–

Alien: If the location is outside of California, can it still be called a California pizza kitchen? Human: If I rip out one of your kidney’s, is it still a kidney? Alien: That was a bit of a dark comparison. Human: You mess with the CPK and you get the knife. ——————–

Human Waiter: What can I get you? Alien: One of your finest hedgehogs please. Human Waiter: *Visible confusion* Alien: You may hold the rings, as I am allergic to gold. ———————–

Alien: Why does this menu look different? Human: Because we were at hardees last time. Alien: Is this not hardees? Human: No, this is Carl’s jr. Alien: But they both have the same star logo. Human: True. Alien: And they both serve substandard food do they not? Human: I mean, technically they- Alien: Then they are the same, yes? Human: Just eat your damn burger. ————————

Alien: If this place is known for their bread sticks why are they not called as such? Human: Because breadstick garden doesn’t sound as nice. Alien: What it does sound like is false advertising to me. ————————-

Alien: Is it a mermaid or a woman splitting her legs? Human: To this very day no one really knows. ————————-

Human: Aren’t you enjoying yourself? Alien: No, I hate it here. Human: But why? Alien: I was promised owls and all they have given me is scantily clad human females. Human waitress: *Seductive* Can I get you boys anything else? Alien: You may bring me an avian owl or leave us wench! ———————–

Alien: *Throws plate away* Human: What the hell!?! Alien: I will not have bees in my apples! Alien: NEVER!!!!!! Alien: *Picks up nearby waiter and hurls them into bar* ———————-

Human: Can I help you? Alien: Bring this message to your queen of dairy. Alien: *Drops clerk official scroll* Alien: I wish to open trade negotiations. Human: *confused* You might as well get a blizzard talking like that. Alien: *Nods* You are right. Alien: I do not wish to offend the queen with such directness.