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The Shanty and the Hive

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The first time the humans told us they sang their way through subspace, we thought it a translation error.

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We-the-hive were overjoyed to meet them. Finally, finally, it was proven that we were not alone! And though we already knew that we must not be, given the vastness of time and the multiverse, we also knew that those same vastnesses were against us. Civilizations we could meet are greatly outnumbered by those who came before us and we are too late to meet, those who will come after us and we are too early for, and those so far away that we cannot find them.

A starfaring civilization, like our own, increased the chances of meeting greatly. One of our most distant scientific surveyors sensed a faint and far away disturbance, similar to the waves our own ships make when diving into and out of subspace. An exploratory team was sent to investigate, and there at the furthest reach ever taken from the hive’s center, to our everlasting joy, we found human explorers on the far edges of their own range.

Their ships were strange to us, and their selves even stranger. Translation, and the mutual communication of peaceful intentions, was difficult. Mathematics was the first understanding we were able to share, as the basic principles do not change—though their and our systems of harnessing it are different. Science followed after, as the elements and natural laws are unchanging. So it was discovered that we-the-hive and the humans share the common ground of being carbon-based heterotrophs who consume water to maintain life processes.

These commonalities were far outnumbered by our differences. Yet, the most important thing we had in common was the desire to understand each other. With earnest effort, with forgiveness for unintended insult and misunderstanding, we worked to learn each other’s languages.

Science being an early part of our understanding of each other, we asked them about the construction of their ships. They told us of their material compositions and their subspace engines, different in design but similar in purpose to our own technology—but when we asked them about the shielding and stabilization they used to make the journey survivable, they told us only that they sang their way through.

Keep reading

Aliens interact with and are totally confused by Gen Z humans? (and an emo as well, if you can?)

Sorry you waited so long, I was struggling to come up with something since "gen z" is a much broader term than people realize.

First, allow me to introduce you to the...

Bright young people who passed their tests with flying colors. While the image only shows these notable three for this story, the graduating class composes of many skilled individuals with varying backgrounds.

Unlike many of this generation, these very few are lucky to get their dream job.

They worked hard to get in. They really did. But no matter what they did, or where they found success, they were met with critism from older generations.

These three in particular, and one older man placed in charge, were placed on a Spaceship to train as the new star sailors. Aboard this same craft were several aliens, who were used to human ways from the generation preceding.

Immediately upon boarding, the discrimination was clear from the older male. He especially seemed to hate a young boy with long black hair and piercings. The boy was often met with phrases like: "when I was your age..." and "I can't believe they allowed you onto the ship looking like that."

Despite the hostility, the three did as humans do and were seemingly cheerful. They passed around beverages on their breaks, gave each other high fives and fist bumps, and sometimes they gave out hugs. Jokes were common. The alien crew members would admit these jokes were a little weird. From simply saying "bread" the group would burst in a fit of giggles and be told off by their instructor. Mental health was a common joke among them too, often laughing about being "dead inside" and failures. Such sad "jokes" juxtaposed with such bright expressions really did a number on aliens. Weren't human smiles a GOOD thing???

Upon asking one of them about these same jokes, the human simply offered up a colorful image of a young boy giving out finger guns, captioned "nothing really mattered".

"It's okay," the human would say. "We're all that way."

Despite the instructors complaints, there was nothing wrong with the humans work performances. They were just the same as the instructor had been back when he was with his old crew. They were inexperienced and maybe a bit complain-y for sure, but... so had been the instructor at their age. Hell, he used to skip work and get drunk in the hot boiler room. Still had a scar from being dared to touch heated equipment. By comparison, these three in particular were actually much better than the last crew.

Aliens observed this and looked through human's written records. As far as alien's can see, the humans have always, ALWAYS, been filled with varying personalities like this generation. Gen z wasn't as odd as they claimed - well, odd by comparison. They had their own unique quirks, and interests, and styles, but so did any other generation. What was it about gen z that scared the older generation?

To look deeper meant to learn of a new word. Prejudice. The hate against gen z was nothing new to human behaviors. It seemed... ANY "group" different than another "group" was met with hostility. Simply being a new batch of humans with the crime of being born in a different year was enough to scare the elderly among them. Gen z wasn't the first with this discrimination. No, many, MANY sources were found against millennials too. An obsessive amount one can say...

Even farther back one can find complaints about the "boomers", even if they weren't called that back then. So... why did the "boomers" not learn and treat future generations kindly? Why did the millennials themselves turn around and complain about gen z?

Despite the constant badgering, these three took it quite well. How do you three handle the older man's prejudice? And with that, the entire crew now had a new catchphrase among them.

Older man (slamming down a piece of paper onto the desk): "How am I supposed to work with this?"

Alien (looking it over): "I can't say I understand the problem."

Man: "It's not specific enough. I needed you to categorize these by the alphabet."

Alien: "We've been over this. We do not sort letters the same way human's do, I simply am not familiar with-"

Man (already walking out):"just redo it"

Alien (moving the paper underneath the "forget" to do it pile): "Ok Boomer"

Man (from a distance): "Everyone needs to STOP CALLING ME THAT."

So all of these of fun and you really should go read the notes and comments on this but here are the favorites from when I saw this

I also saw a hectic of humans which I liked but for some reason I didn’t screen shot it and I don’t feel like going back now~

There was a post somewhere that described how we categorize groups. You know, like a herd of cattle, a murder of crows, a miracle of unicorns.

It went on to propose a group of humans might be called a "kindness" by the aliens.

Anyway, I think not. How about a hectic? A hectic of humans? Do I need to explain this one?

But I'm also happy to hear other options.

Space ork Writing #1

Casefile #3197-A1

Codename: prologue

Significance: First recorded contact with

Species: 4370

Subspecies: 1

Homo Sapien, humans

Intergalactic date as standardized for research purposes: 13,772,002,183(2,183)

Locality: sol system, dwarf planet Pluto

Research team: Epsilon beta 431

As told by: aion rinsheet (male, iterian)

We had made just made and emergency jump into unknown space our vessel, the I.C.E-3187 “ellipse”, was under attack by unknown hostile forces( probably the maldarians, those ——– have always been trouble)

Our vessel wasn’t a idarocolider but could still execute FTL jumps relatively quickly, but we were damaged. the lab and two sleeping quarters were venting nitrogen and we were losing pressure in the fuselage, we… we had to seal areas of the ship off with crewman still inside. I can never forgive myself for such ignorance in not raising the shields, I could have saved them. They’re dead because of me.

:Log terminated:

Casefile #3197-A2

Codename: The suffering

We’ve been drifting now for (43 standard sol hours), half the ships been blocked off because of random decompressions. the crew’s been restless, our nitrogen supply has been running low, as have our rations.

………

We’re going to die out here

:Log Terminated:

Casefile #3197-A3

Codename: a light in shining darkness

I can’t believe it, it must be a (incomprehensible vulgarity) it can’t be (incomprehensible vulgarity) believe it. There’s a single that’s been shot out from a planet in the 47th subsection of the this galaxy, it’s faint beyond measure, barley an echo on our sensors

Could this be salvation?

:Log Terminated:

Casefile #3197-A4

Codename: Reconation

Audio function.

Enabled

…………

(Muttering)

…………

[Chief xenobiologist aion] “There’s no way”

[Void Navigator EяIs] “Oh your (comprehensible vulgarity) right there’s away”

………

[Chief xenobiologist aion]“So what your telling us is, we not only made a random jump and it landed us in the black zone”

[Void Navigator EяIs] “yes, and we’re not dead”

[Second xenobiologist gehena] “that’s pretty (Comprehensible vulgarity)obvious”

[Shipmaster Roiylin] ”can we please get back to the point at claw”

[Void Navigator EяIs] “yes,ok, well, you may want to sit down for this”

(Audible sound of chairs being sat in)

[Void Navigator EяIs] “Reyna”

[Transmission officer Reyna] “thank you, well, we traced the signal back to its origin……… it’s on Sol 3”

(Chairs hit the floor)

[Chief xenobiologists aion](comprehensible vulgarity)

[Second xenobiologist gehnena] ”that’s not possible!There hasn’t been activity in the sol sector since the Great empire of Ares 300,000 years ago”!

Please write as much criticism and reviews as you like, I love writing and would love to hear your thoughts and opinions

Human Strangeness

Chapter One: The Heart, The Mind, and Several Other Important Organs

Mystique had never been known to think before she acted. In many cases, someone else had to bale her out of the situations she had gotten herself into. This time was different. This time she had royally f*cked up. She had seen them taking her one true joy that got her through the day, and she had done what she deemed necessary, without thinking. Now she was pinned against the wall, she had no way out, and she knew things were going to get messy.

“SURRENDER THE COFFEE!” her opponent yelled.

“Never!” she shouted, and threw her last defense: A half finished taquito. It hit the enemy square in the head, and they stumbled backwards, wiping at their face. She had a chance! She skirted out of the way as the others were distracted, but the ruse failed. A dozen pizza rolls came flying at her, and she ducked, so as not to get hit. Then came the deafening war cry, and chaos reigned havoc on the cafeteria.

“FOOD FIGHT!”

She smiled as she crawled along the floor, food soaring over her, and out into the hallway. As she dodged into the comms room, she could hear other crewmembers running/flapping/sliding down the hall to stop the all-out war she had help create. Snoflin (Snow-fl-in), who was also in the comms room and had not been noticed earlier, stormed out xer anger on them. “Why do you always do stuff like this?! You acted and you didn’t even think!” xe shouted. “Yes I did,” Mystique said defensively, “I thought with my stomach!” Snoflin stared at her with xis five, slit-pupiled eyes. “How do you think with a different organ that is not your brain?” xe asked. “It’s an expression, meaning that food was my first thought without thinking about anything else.” she explained.

“That’s...completely illogical. Why would you not think first?” xe said. As Mystique was about to answer, the ship lurched sideways, and the alarm blared. It appeared the fun that had occurred earlier had been short lived, and everyone quickly rushed to their stations. They were being attacked! Mystique manned the weapons, so it was her job to defend them, but before she could get a clear shot, the ship lurched sideways again, throwing everyone off balance. The other ship had attached, and she could hear angry and panicked voices coming from down the hall. One of them she recognized as Snoflin’s. Racing down the corridor, she skidded into the docking bay, where there were a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces.

One of the intruders pointed his gun at her, and she stood still, but most of the enemies’ attention was on Snoflin, and she could see why. The gang of pirates were Parshalin, a cold-faring race, that had tried to force the Aster, Snoflin’s race, off of their home planet of Blushendove (Blue-shen-dove). Their two races were some of the only cold-faring species in the Galactic Assembly, unable to survive in temperatures above 40-50°F. As such, it was lucky they were, as there were not many icy planets on this side of sector, and the Parshalin had lost the war and had had to go to an uninhabited planet that was just above their preferred temperature, as their home planet had been destroyed. The pirates were going to shoot Snoflin, Mystique just knew it. Before she could think, she found herself running towards them, and launched herself between them, getting hit on the leg.

It was like liquid fire had been poured onto her thigh, but she had successfully distracted the intruders, allowing her crew to subdue the enemies and put them in the holding bay, which was installed in case there was any emergency concerning another being. Mystique was carried off to the infirmary, and Snoflin stopped by to see her later on. “Why did you do that? It made no sense for you to get hurt on my behalf.” Snoflin said quietly. “You think I should think with my head more, which is probably true, but at that moment I thought with my heart, and knew I couldn’t let you get hurt.” she said, with a wry smile on her face. Snoflin’s fur was flattened against xis skin as xe spoke, “I will never understand you humans.” Mystique smiled a mischievous smile and said, “That’s probably for the better.”

Thank you all for reading this far! This was my first trope on the #humansarespaceorcs tag and I will take constructive criticism if you have anything to add. I hope to be able too write more when I’m not to caught up with other stuff. Please take care, and await for more stories!

Human Strangeness

Chapter Two: Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee

Anator (Uh-nah-tour) made xer way into the common room, realizing xe had left xis tablet on the couch, and saw Mystique sitting in one of the chairs near the corner of the room. She looked awful, with dark circles under her eyes, stained clothes on, and an expression that clearly said, “I hate everything.” Xe immediately scuttled over to her, hoping to help xer human crew mate. Mystique looked up at Anator with a bleary look and said, “Oh hey Anator, what is it?” “Are you alright? You look ill.” said Anator, whose species is not known for their subtlety. She looked confused, and said, “No I’m good, I just haven’t had my coffee yet. I just got my first cup when you came over.” Anator looked at her, having not previously noticed the mug in her hand, which was filled with a creamy brown liquid.

“What is coffee? I have not heard of it before.” said Anator. Mystique waved her hand while speaking, as if it to say it’s not a big deal. “It’s just a drink that helps humans be more active when they get up in the morning. It’s naturally black, but humans can add things like milk and sugar to make it to their preferred tastes.” Mystique said, gesturing to her cup. “It contains caffeine, so it’s extremely common to use in the morning to stop feeling so groggy.” she continued, taking a sip of the “coffee”.

Anator was satisfied, but was quickly confused again. “That still does not explain why your under eyes are so dark, and that is an extremely big mug.” xe stated, still wondering why she looked so sickly. “Oh ya, I’ve been up for the past few nights, don’t think I’ve gotten more than 7 hours in the last three days.” Mystique said, “yawning”, as she called it. Anator was now even more confused. “Why would you do that? While my people do not sleep, I know that you humans should get at least eight of your Earth hours.” xe said, claws clicking in confusion and concern.

She looked up at xer, and gave a slightly embarrassed look. “Because...because I just do?” she said. Anator just looked at Mystique before grabbing xer tablet and moving out of the common room, questioning what in the name of the Great Flame was wrong with humans. Xe scooted into the ship’s interactions room, running xis pincers against the information books before pulling out the one on humans, and decided xe was going to personally update it from then on. Even with this decision, Anator knew that this book would never be entirely correct, as humans would always be unpredictable.

Thank you for reading! I promised I would write, and here it is. Sorry it’s so short, but I’m already past my deadline to get to sleep and not hate life in the morning. It’s getting late (or technically early), and I should really be heading off to bed, but I’ll hopefully be back with another chapter! See you soon!

What’s up peeps! My school is closed today because of a weather forecast, so I thought I’d write another chapter for you guys. Snow day inspiration baby!

Human Strangeness

Chapter Three: We Nearly Die, and then Laugh About It

The wailing siren sounded through the corridors, it’s scream reaching all sides of the ship. Mystique had rushed to the reactor core as soon as it went off, knowing this is where her training would come in handy. Climbing down the ladder into the pit, she got out her tools, when something large and heavy crashed down on her. Groaning, she felt around, and touched something soft and warm. She heard another groan, not coming from her this time.

“MICHAEL!”

“GET OFF, WE NEED TO FIX THIS!” Mystique yelled while shoving him off, the clumsy oaf. Grabbing her ion wrench, she raced to the core and got to work, hoping she could fix it before the whole ship blew up. Stepping back after a moment, she thought she had fixed it, but the alarm was still going off. “GO GO GO!” she yelled, scrambling to leave, Michael right on her heels. They dived out of the reactor bay, their arms over their heads, expecting something to blow up. Then, relievingly, the alarm shut off, and they both sat up, catching their breath.

Snoflin, Anator, and others raced around the corner, having been on the far side of the ship. Not realizing that they were ok, they picked both of them up, and rushed them to the infirmary. Darquin (D-are-Quinn), the medic, sat them down on the bench, hoping they weren’t hurt. Xe looked them over, and then told everyone they were fine. Snoflin then asked, “What happened in there?” Mystique then looked at Michael, Michael looked at her, and they both burst out laughing.

The crew was utterly confused. “Why are you laughing?” said Anator. Mystique cackled even harder. “Michael f-fell on top of me,” she said while chuckling, “and I screamed at him to get off so I could fix the reactor.” Michael wiped at his eye. “Ya I did, sorry about that.” he said, a wide grin still on his face. “It’s funny in hindsight,” said Mystique, “but it wasn’t at the time.” “Why are you laughing?! We all could’ve died!” shouted Snoflin, clearly befuddled at the two beings in front of xer.

“But we didn’t.” said Mystique, pointing at Snoflin with a smile. Everyone was speechless, not knowing what to say at this. Mystique turned to Michael and said, “You wanna go get some chili dogs?” “Yesssss!” he said with an excited expression, and they both walked out of the infirmary, leaving the rest of crew dumbfounded. They then all silently agreed that the humans are nuts, and eventually all filed out to continue their jobs on the ship.

Thanks for reading to the end! I’m so glad I got to write because of a weather forecast. I hope you all enjoyed chapter three, and I will hopefully be writing again very soon! That’s all folks!

Heck ya my dudes, another snow day. Inspiration at 1:30 in the morning. Got school. TOTALLY functional sleep schedule.

Let’s do this.

Human Strangeness

Chapter Four: Stupid Responses and Random Noises

The humans were being quite strange. The crew was exploring a new planet, and had entered into a cave, which had had loud noises that sounded suspiciously like snores coming from it. Ranhou (Ran-who) was scared, as everyone was, but both Michael and Mystique were being...unusual, even more so than normal. Almost everyone had immediately thought it was good to stay quiet, but Micheal had started singing. Mystique had then joined in, both of them seeming to creating lyrics at random.

“We’re all gonna definitely dieeee~~~, I’m scared and I wanna go homeee~~~,” sung Michael. Mystique then joined in, singing, “We are totally screwedd~~~, I hope we make it out of here alive~~~.” “Will you be quiet?!” Ranhou whispered angrily. “Sorry!” Michael whispered back. The crew then slowly advanced for a while more, the snores growing louder with every step/flap/slide. “This is stupid! Let’s just hurry up!” whispered Mystique, and she hurried off in front of them, disappearing from the edge of the lights that they had kept dimmed.

A moment later, the sound of running footsteps echoed through the cave, and they were coming towards them. Ranhou was terrified when Mystique came sprinting into the light again, a fearful look on her face, saying, “Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope, bad idea, bad idea!” The crew all chased after her, knowing that she didn’t scare easily, and followed her aboard the ship.

Mystique was breathing hard, a coughing/exhaling sound coming from her throat. “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” said Ranhou, outraged at the behavior of the being in front of xim. “ehHhHHhHhHh,” Mystique said, curling into a small ball on one of the window ledges. “Why?!” Ranhou asked again, wanting to know what she had been thinking. “EhhHhHHhhH,” she said again, her face a mixture of fear and uncooperation. “Come on!” xe said, getting frustrated. “EHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Mystique practically screamed, burying her face in her arms.

Ranhou whirled around and shouted at Michael, “WHAT IS YOUR HUMAN FRIEND DOING?!” “Chill man, sometimes humans will just make random noises based on a situation, like if they run into something, are expressing an emotion, or don’t like what someone is saying.” Michael said, holding up his hands in a defensive way. “UGH!” shouted Ranhou, storming off into one of the ship’s corridors.

Xe would never get humans, the unpredictable creatures. Xer time was too important to be wasted on trying to get an answer from Mystique, so xe slid into the ship’s library, deciding to record xis findings in one of the manuals. Michael came by later on to look up a record, and Ranhou asked him, “What is wrong with your species?” He just shrugged, saying, “Hell man, even we don’t know.”, and then grabbed his file and walked towards the door. “I’ll find out how you work eventually!” xe called after him. Micheal turned around while still walking backwards, a smile on his face. “Sureeeeeee.” he said, and then turned around and walked out of the library, leaving Ranhou in a silent rage.

Hey everyone, I’m writing this early in the morning and I’ve got school! Yay :’D! However, it’s Friday and it will be the weekend after this, so expect more chapters! Bye everyone, and sleep well! Unlike me, please help-

Hallo! Tis I, the-mystical-phoenix, and since it is the weekend, I have decided to write another chapter. It's still inconvient for me unfortunately, and please don't get mad for any spelling mistakes, the device I'm using won't let me make edits after I post the story. Sorry if the paragraphs are short as well, the device has a way different format so it's a lot more scrunched up. I'm also writing this at like 2:15 in the morning because for some reason that's just when motivation strikes. But I digress, let's get into it.

Human Strangeness

Chapter Five: Not Paying Attention and Making People Uncomfortable

Michael hated ship meetings. They were always so boring. They never even concerned him or his post, which didn't fit his likes or activities he considered fun. He supposed he should listen anyway, or he would get in trouble later on. He didn't have to like it, though.

"Based on our recent statistics, it looks like we are going to be arriving at our destination earlier than on schedule," his captain droned on, "and we should keep our cargo ready to be moved." Michael wished he had the inventory records job. He would get to check everything they had, get to move stuff, get to order people to move stuff, and it would be much more enjoyable. He gazed over at Hosswell, the inventory director, and decided he was going to ask the captain to at least help with the job after the meeting was over. Michael thought about his old job, one which catered to his likes and was generally thrilling to go to. He wondered about his family, and whether they were happy with their jobs...of course they were, they never said anything bad about them. He was just switching over to thinking about his mother's food when he felt vaguely aware of someone shaking his shoulder, as well as saying his name.

Michael snapped back to reality and realized he was staring at Hosswell, who looked extremely unnerved. He looked around and saw all eyes were on him, and even the ones without eyes were turned in his direction. "Michael," Mystique said, with her hand on his shoulder, "focus." "Sorry, I zoned out for a second." "I can understand that." she replied, leaning back in her chair. Every other human was nodding and making faces that said that they could also get that. Everyone else was apparently not satisfied, as with much confusion in xis voice his captain asked, "What do you mean you 'zoned out'?" "I just kinda lost focus." he replied, thinking that would be the end of it.

"You were staring at Hosswell, though," his captain continued, "so what were you doing?" Michael huffed, knowing this would be another thing he would have to explain. "Sometimes humans lose focus on what they're doing, and even though they see what's going on, they just don't process it because their minds are thinking about something else." Michael said. "It can happen anywhere," he continued, "even in important places or while having important conversations. You could be thinking about something random, like a band from 20 years ago, and then you'll realize you're driving. You were still seeing, but it just wasn't being processed." he finished.

The captain and the non-human crewmates were silent. "That sounds like it could be dangerous." his captain remarked. "Ya, not being aware can lead to some bad consquences, but usually it's just, at most, annoying or unsettling." Michael said. "Sometimes we zone out while looking at someone, and they think that we're staring at them, but it can be fixed with a simple communication. Anyways, I'll try better to pay attention. What was it that you need?" he finished, leaning back in his chair, looking at the captain, waiting for xer to answer. "Oh...right. Yes, of course. I was asking you if there was another position you had in mind that you could do, as your current one is not faring well under your guidance." xe answered. Michael couldn't believe his ears. This was going to be a very fun meeting.

Hey everyone! That's it for now, sorry if it's not much, I am extremely tired. I hope to post again next weekend, when I will have time to work on my current device. Stay safe and be nice to each other! See you next time!

Hallo again! Little update here! The device I was hoping to be fixed just isn't fixable without paying a lot of money, so I'm using a completely different device than the other two. This one is more like the original device however, so I hope to right some more now. I'm sorry for not posting for so long. FOUR DAY WEEKEND INSPIRATION BABY! Anyway, let's get into it.

Human Strangeness

Chapter Six: Having Poisonous Food and Eating It Anyway

The humans were being weird again. No, not just weird, insane. They had done some extremely weird things before, but this might just be at the top of the list. They were eating poison. Poison! Straight from the bottle! Darquin couldn't believe, though a medic, that they were injesting poison and somehow seemed fine. Xe had never seen anything like this before, in all of xis years as a medic. Then again, xe had never worked with humans before. This was probably something common for them.

"Why are you drinking that?!" Darquin shot at them. "Dude, chill, it's just some beer. It's not a big deal," replied George, one of the humans, with a bewildered expression. The others had similar confused faces. "It's poisonous to your body!" xe screamed. "Oh, well...ya, but our bodies can fight off the effects if you don't have too much too often," continued another Darquin thought was named Zion, "and it's good."

Darquin didn't know what to say. Xe didn't even know what to think. "You....think it's good?! Even if it is, it's still poisonous and is harming your body! This is the weirdest thing I have ever seen in all my years of being a medic!" xe shouted. Mystique and Michael then walked in, looking at Darquin with a curious expression. "What's with all the shouting?" he asked, hands in his pockets. Darquin looked towards him. "Is this a thing for you humans?!" xe barked, gesturing wildly to the group of idiots in front of xer.

"Uhhhhh.....drinking....beer?" Michael replied, looking extremely confused. Xe looked at him in utter disbelief. "THIS IS A NORMAL THING?!" xe screeched at him, the blithering fool. "Ya, it is, so you just gotta deal with it." he replied, going to sit with the other humans and opening a bottle himself. Darquin stormed out of the room to xis quarters, hoping to be able to find some sense in what they were doing. Xe would have to explain to them later how bad this was for them, but right now, xe had more important things to do.

~~~

Darquin walked into the cafeteria for what was considered dinner in space, and was greeted by others of the crew trying to stop the humans from doing something. Per usual. "Please do not eat the peppers, as we scanned them when they were brought on board and they contain a large amount of capsaicin, which is not meant for mammals! I don't know if you knew this or not, but please don't eat them!" exclaimed xer captain, trying to gently take the peppers away from the humans. "Nah man, we knew, and we love eating them. Well, some of us do. They're spicy. It's like if pain and heat were a flavor." replied one of the humans. The other crew members looked at the humans in shock. "Why do you eat them if they taste like pain?" Snoflin blustered disbelievingly. "Because we like pain," Michael responded, and with a blank face bit into the pepper he was holding.

What happened next bewildered Darquin, but the other humans reacted as if it was normal. Michael sucked in a breath and said, "Whew, spicy. But delicious!" He took another bite, and most of the other humans joined in on taking bites and commenting on the flavor, give or take a few sensible ones. Darquin gave a look to the captain, wondering why they had allowed humans on board the ship, new as their species was to the group of space-faring peoples.

Darquin sat down and pulled the food towards xerself, knowing that the humans would continue like this for the rest of the ship journey, so xe might as well get used to it. The humans continued this charade throughout the rest of the dinner time, and eventually most of the humans left to go get milk for their burning tongues, the fools. Darquin stood up and headed towards the door as well, leaving the crew to carry out xis own business. The crew were complaining about the humans and their strange ways, and as xe was leaving, xe heard one of the remaining humans say loudly, "Welcome to my world,".

Hello everyone! Sorry for not posting for so long, I've been having a bit of writer's block. I'm also up at 2:00 in the morning doing this. Why? Hell, why the frick not?! Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful week, stay safe, and have a good night's sleep (unlike a certain phoenix I know).

concept: aliens keeping humans as pets

you know how like, dog toys are vaguely reminiscent of stuff wolves have and stuff we have? like toy squeaky bone or a dog house that looks like a human house. imagine if aliens had humans as pets and all the "human toys" are just stuff weirdly similar to stuff we have in our society. "nonono human no drawing on the walls! go play with your W-2 forum!" or like, an alien opens a box of human food and then tiny lil soft burgers spill into the bowl or maybe you walk into your house and there is a tiny little toilet for the pet human akin to how we have litter boxes for cats? etc etc. this is a neat concept man!!! people should use this concept!

[This idea has been rattling in my brain and I had to share it.]

I know we all love the ‘humans are space orcs’ concept… but imagine, onboard the new ship they’ve been assigned to, the human meets an actual space orc. A massive monster… fangs and tusks and scars and a battle-hardened stare, looming over all the other life forms on the ship in its thick indestructible armour it refuses to remove. It barely drinks, it doesn’t need sleep, its massive shoulders are heavy with the terrible things it has experienced. Compared to the squishy & delicate human body, this thing is a walking tank.

… Except instead of hating/ignoring one another, the human and the monster start bonding over both coming from death planets. The human is excited to find a life form who doesn’t quiver with fear at the vague description of a jellyfish and the monster is ecstatic to meet someone who understands the feeling of being bitten by a qua’lem (cats are pretty close). They sit together and compare dangerous animals and locations as the other aliens look on in confusion and fear… oh, you also have dense jungles of deadly hidden predators, boiling acid lakes, tamed predatory killers, and areas with horrendously high and low temperatures? Sick!! 

It doesn’t take long before the two of them become totally inseparable. The human loves not feeling like some kind of crazy outsider and the monster is overjoyed they’ve finally found an equal in this unkillable marshmallow.

Monster: When I was a youngling, a grol-lik stung straight through my armour. The pain lasted for approximately 16 human hours. Human: Oh yeah man, I get that. As a kid I got a wasp stuck in my shirt. It stung me like four times, it was awful, and all my cousins just laughed at me… Monster: [using their arm screen to research human courting methods] I see.

Why Humanity Cares.

Meetings with the human ambassador were always incredibly tense. The man's tongue dripped with honey, but his race was easily the mightiest and most violent sentient race in the Galaxy.

It had been just over five standard galactic cycles since the humans had officially joined the concordat, four cycles prior to that were just worry and negotiations. Teanorc had presided as protectorate of the concordat of stars for three galactic cycles. His predecessor had given him a dossier on humans specifically. Most of what was in it was public knowledge, and Teanorc had been a representative of the golithea at the time humanity had unceremoniously stumbled into concordat space.

They hailed from class-9 death world, the gravity of their home planet alone would kill most sentients, and on top of that extreme weather patterns, extreme temperatures, extreme flora and fauna, some of the flora actually ate some of the fauna. Their world was one right out of old science fiction stories.

As a result humans were likely the most hardy and durable species in the Galaxy, killing a human was an insane feat to pull off, this had actually lead to "human hunts." For awhile before they had joined the concordat, and despite best efforts of fully equipped, military trained professional hunters, only one hundred humans were successfully killed by them. The humans were furious at it though, an attack on one was an attack on all. Yet still they did not declare war.

The humans had approached the condordat with open arms, they always worked to put their best foot forward, and despite their colored past, which they made no attempt to hide, the always spoke of peace. They had been invaluable in defending gur'nak'kir'blim and scientific station there from an exploding star! They had even moved the planet to a new viable location, same type of star, same distance, nobody could do that! Their technology was far beyond the concordat they could easily overthrow it and enslave the Galaxy. But for some reason they didn't.

This was the mindset that Teanorc was in when the human representative arrived at his office for routine cycle dues and updates. He really hated dealing with him, he always felt on edge, like anytime the representative would just pull out a gun, say some quippy one liner and shoot him dead in the spot.

Deacon was his name. He opened the door and stopped cold.

"I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" He asked, right, on top of everything else these people were also powerful empaths, they could literally feel when your emotions were off kilter.

Teanorc sighed, a long hissing sound for his race. "I'm just Stressed Mr. deacon, being Protectorate is a lot of work." Teanorc replied.

"Understandable." Deacon replied he took a step in and handed Teanorc an orange envelope with a myriad of human signatures and holoseals on it.

"That's it?" Teanorc asked as he took the envelope "nothing else?". Still half expecting the the smiling ambassador to slit his throat.

"You always ask that y'know." He said "working with me distresses you somehow, I'm sorry about that, I genuinely don't know why, if I did, I'd do everything I could to fix it."

Something about the Hunan's tone was off, it didn't sound like his normal practiced professional tone, that was still there a bit, but it had wavered. For some reason Teanorc felt that Deacon was being honest with him, though he wasn't sure why. He stared at the human for a long moment before deciding to speak again. Fuck it, if they planned to kill him anyway he supposed it wouldn't matter.

"It's not you specifically Mr. deacon. He said slowly "Humans in generally distress me."

Deacon turned and raised an eyebrow, a human gesture that usually meant confusion.

"I cannot believe you are unaware of why this is. Surely you must know."

"Did we do something recently?" Deacon asked "I'm pretty sure I was careful to honor all the customs I was taught."

Another hiss from Teanorc "fine, you want me to say it, I'll say it." He said "human military forces outnumber the forces of the whole concordat nearly one hundred to one. Human technology is light-years beyond anything we have ever developed, your species has a history of war crimes that make the worst villains of galactic history look like saints. You're nigh unkillable by conventional means, you are capable of reading emotions, and physically enhancing yourselves by getting angry or determined. You could the tear concordat apart in less than a cycle. Yet you speak in honeyed words, open your arms, act with kindness, you moved a whole planet, who does that! Your very existence is like a gun pointed at our heads, and I'm just waiting for it to go off."

Deacon blinked a blank stare on his face for a breif moment. It looked as though he hadn't actually expected Teanorc to put it in words. He chuckled a bit, though it didn't sound as though it was from Glee. Then deacon did something that Teanorc had never seen him do. He visibly relaxed, his shoulders slumped forward, his head tilted just a bit to the side and he grabbed the chair on his side of Teanorc's desk.

"Do you mind?" He asked. Teanorc waved his hand in a sort of dismissive approval.

"You see us as monsters." He said then turned and stared at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity.

"Am I wrong?" Teanorc asked, venom dripping from his voice.

"No." Deacon answered, there it was, loud and clear, the bolt would come any moment. "We have always been monsters, the chosen companions of death for nearly ten thousand years." Deacon continued, his head finally tilting down from the cieling to look at Teanorc. The man looked tired, exasperated, worried. None of the emotionsTeanorc had expected of this moment.

"But y'know living in a world filled with death has taught us how absolutely beautiful and precious life is.". Deacon's eyes blazed with a passion his tired features did not share. He meant what he was saying. "We weren't lying, we really do want peace. We want to help, we want protect, we want to encourage. We have lived in fear of death, we have lived without help, we do not wish these things on anyone."

Teanorc was surprised, this was not what he had expected, he was certain that the humans were just biding their time, playing with the concordat until they got bored. But this was not what Deacon's voice or impassioned eyes believed, which meant that… Teanorc had been wrong.

"But you have the power to do anything you want!" Teanorc replied, trying to make sense of it.

"And we don't want to conquer the concordat." Deacon answered. "We just want to live the brightest and most dazzling lives we can, before death comes for us too."

A DEATHWORLDER’S WAR PT. 2

Humanity’s truth universe.

From the memiors ambassador Gruxalon of the vanai-ashti.

After discussing the particulars of human involvement in our war with the Xinali myself and two envoys joined the Human delegation to return to their homeworld of Terra and continue discussion with Human leadership.  The other five members of the delegation were sent home to relay a message that would doubtless fill our people with hope and joy despite the misgivings and warnings from the Alliance:  The strongest known military force in the galaxy was giving us direct military aid despite the objections of the council.

As I entered the repurposed destroyer vessel the humans used as a diplomatic vessel, I noticed it was staffed by individuals who all wore the same clean cut uniform with only minor differences to denote ranks and achievements.  One of the similarly dressed individuals who was present with the human delegation stood straight and pulled feet together raising his hand to his mouth before bellowing:

“Officer on deck!” 

As he did this all the men present stopped their duties and seemed to turn like one, as though controlled by a single central mind, the sound of their boots all hitting the ground at same moment as their arms snapped up, their hands barely touching their foreheads in what i assume was a salute, was deafening.  The ambassador raised his arm slightly and bellowed back:

"As you were.” and the men visibly relaxed, released their salutes and returned to their work.  Even among our own kind I have never seen such a display of discipline.

The flight to Terra took a few days, even in FTL, and the ambassador and I had a good deal of time to speak about the issues my people faced and how I, and my fellow envoys believed we could best be helped.  Our largest issues were the Xinali willingness to use biological warfare and the fact they could survive a good number of shots from our projectile weapons before going down.  The ambassador asked a few questions and then sighed resignedly.

“What’s wrong?” I asked 

“Nothing is wrong,” Orillion answered. “It’s just… based on your descriptions I have to assume your enemy the Xinali also come from a deathworld, which means they’ll be a bigger pain in the arse to fight.”

"What makes you think they come from a deathworld?” I asked.

“Their biological warfare uses a gas that causes you immune system failure, yet doesn’t seem to affect them, despite no protective gear,” he answered “this combined with the fact they can handle several hits and keep going whilst unprotected means their blood is probably clotting, together that probably means they have an adaptive immune system.”

“An adaptive… I’m sorry I’m not sure I understand.” I answered, an immune was an immune system wasn’t it?

Orillion gave me a tense look “Okay, i’ll share this with you, but don’t go talking about it for now, the consulate gets pretty upset with how open we are about it.”

I bobbed my head up and down in consent and Orillion gave me an odd look before I realized that I had used a cultural gesture he wasn’t aware of.

“Sorry,” I said, “I will bear this information with utmost secrecy until you tell me otherwise.”

“Okay,” Orillion answered “although if i’m right and you ARE fighting deathworlders then this will all end up being considered ‘necessary tactical information’ anyway.”  he continued “An adaptive immune system basically takes in a pathogen and throws everything it can at it, learning how to fight what is accosting it until it has figured out how to eliminate the pathogen efficiently enough to eradicate it from the body.”

“What!?” I asked “It just eradicates any pathogen?  You mean to tell me that the xinalli are immune to sickness!?”

“Well no,” Orillion answered “Humans have an adaptive immune system as well, but there are still pathogens that can weaken or kill you faster than your immune system can figure out a solution, or sometimes your body can mutate and the mutated cells can end up draining your body of resources until it quite literally starves to death.”

I blanched “that sounds horrible.” I said.

"It is," Orillion answred "Only a few species have.adaptive immune systems, and all of them are deathworlders.  Fortunately for you we are the most advanced ones."

From the memiors of general Vineset hetroix of the Vani-Ashri 

My men continued to fight, but the Xinali were like like a flood, like a plague, it was only a matter of time.  A lieutenant carrying communications equipment rushed to my command tent on the surface, he begged permission to enter and show me a transmission, i granted it.  

The transmission was grainy, but showed the ambassador to the Galactic alliance and two beings quite a bit taller than him with rough, pale skin and tufts of fur on the tops of their head.  The ambassador began:

"General i have excellent news, we have secured military aide at long last, our people may have hope now."

One of the aliens stepped forward, he wore a clean and pressed outfit, clearly designed yo impress delegations, not for war.

"I am major Darek Hallsman of the 987th division of the Terran Marines." The alien began with a gesture I assumed to be a salute "I am under the impression you are fighting the enemy as we record this message.  I wish to inform you, reinforcements are on there way, and they will arrive soon, within the standard week.  Hold the line, don't let those bastards take what isn't theirs." The recording ended here, the lieutenant informed me that the "Terrans" as the aliens had identified themselves had wished to hurry home to rally their troops, and had thus left theur transmission short and to the point.

"What do we know about these Terrans?" I asked my lieutenant.

"They are apparently quite isolationist, and do not generally get involved in the affairs of others, save for interstellar trade.  I do not know what the ambassador promised them to change that attitude, but they are one of the largest military forces in the alliance, worst case: we get a ton of cannon fodder."

I sighed, there really was no point in expecting better than the worse case.  His people had learned this the hard way during this war, the enemy outnumbered us, out gunned us, even out gene pooled us. But i couldn't say cannon fodder would have been unwelcome, so of course I called the men together to give them the news.

"Gather your courage!" I told them showing them the transmission "Steel yourselves, because in a few days you're gettin' backup!"  A loud cheer rippled through the ranks bubbling and bursting "Let's not let our new allies down boys HOLD THE LINE!" 

Came the answer: "SIR YES SIR!" 

Nearly 5 full days passed, but we held the line, we fought with everything we had, we burned and buried our flak cannon shrapnel rounds into Xinali strikers and brawlers as we pushed with all our might against their battle lines.  The Xinali must have sensed something was off, they began to pull back, as though preparing for something.

It was then we received another transmission broadcasting on an open channel 

"This is Captain Nethaniel Braddock of the T.C.S. retribution clear that battleline general, you've troop and weapons drop in 2 minutes."

Troop drop? I had wondered at the term, but assumed ships would be landing yo let troops out on the battleline, at the time i could not imagine why the terrans would willingly risk troop transports by forcing them down on the front lines.  But two minutes later my questions were answered.

A massive metal monstrosity covered stem to stern in guns and still bleeding fire from re-entry burst through the cloud layer.  We looked up in awe at a vessel that made our warships look like children's toys. And then with a vast array of thuds metal containers hit the ground slamming into the dirt and sinking a few inches.  Several of these pods burst open and soldiers in metal armor strode out into the battlefield with bellowing weapons that flattened the opposition.  One of the men approached us and had us open the smaller containers explaining the weapons within and urging us to these rather than our own flak guns.  They bore names we did not know: S&W, H&K, Kalishnikov.  As these were explained to us the dropships came, carrying the regular marines, while the orbital drop troops held the line and protected their reinforcements.  Terrans in nearly ten Secron tall metal battlesuits, firing weapons with rotating barrels pushed forward while others, near 7 secrons tall in plated and camouflaged body armor marched behind using the metal suits of the drop troopers as cover while they blasted away at Xinali soldiers and flyers.

The terran Concord's soldiers were the most efficient killing machines I had ever seen.

The Terran weapons were vastly superior to our own, some of their marines even carried weapons that fired viscous plamatized bolts.  The "bullets" as the Terrans called them quickly overcame the Xinali's thick skin

in the past, we’d convinced ourselves that our technologies were just reflections of those who made them. we were wrong. (x)

(twitter)

Humans…

“Humans… This species, hailing from the planet called “Earth” is the most contradictory species I have ever had the pleasure and displeasure of knowing.

I have studied Human history extensively. Their past is littered with atrocious acts of violence and discrimination, on their own kind no less! Yet with every heinous act committed there was a period of healing and acceptance. Great groups of people would rally together to comfort each other of their loss and their and their sadness.

I have never known a species with the capacity to love and hate itself at the same time as much as the Humans do. They can do the most despicable things to each other over such minor differences and yet that very same hate can so easily be put aside in times of sorrow and grief.

What’s more, they can be spurred into action by the vaguest of ideals. Freedom, justice, peace, love, money and many more! During my time on Earth, learning about its history and different cultures, I met two soldiers. One was of the military, assigned to keep watch over me and protect me, and the other was a rebel, who I met accidentally at a local drinking establishment. I asked them both the same question and was surprised by their answers. I asked them why they decided to take the life that they had.

They both answered me with a simple phrase, ‘To survive.’ When asked to elaborate, the soldier said and I quote, ‘I became a soldier to fight. To safeguard my people against anything that threatens them. To become a shield for humanity, for Earth and all her allies.’

The rebel said, 'I became a mercenary not because I wanted to, but because I had to. When the Gorn seized a colony, my colony, I realized something. The government can’t always act and do whats right, even if they know that not doing anything is wrong. They have rules that keep the peace and I acknowledge that. So I decided to take up arms when the government couldn’t. I will become a spear for humanity, protecting it when its protectors can’t.’

I will never forget those two, not only for their conviction towards their cause, but because not two Earth years later I received news of their untimely demise. They died doing what they said they would be, the shield and the spear.

Humans are a fragile species, with no natural defense against threats. Yet their remarkable ability to adapt has led them to become the most numerous of all the species in the Confederacy. They can go just about anywhere, any previously inhospitable environment. Not only managing to survive but also thrive there.

They are soldiers but are also scholars. They are explorers but are also settlers. They are builders but are also destroyers. They fragile yet the most durable. They are weak but also strong. I think we can all stand to learn a thing or two from them”

-Professor K'Ree N'oll of the K'loraan,when asked of his opinion towards Humans of Earth.

There is a term commonly used to describe the actions of Humans during the War for Vi’irnas, taken from their own lexicon. “In Cold Blood.” It means that they acted ruthlessly, and without any feeling or mercy for their enemy. The term has been used by nearly everyone, from historians and front line-soldiers to generals and High Council members. But I was there, and I know what really happened.

To say that the Humans killed us on the battlefield “In Cold Blood” is far from the truth. I don’t care what anyone has to say, but they definitely didn’t act “without any feeling.” The war started because of a land dispute, two colonies being set up on the same planet at the same time, one Dryzal and one Human.

Of course the diplomats and politicians tried to settle the dispute at first, discussions of dividing the planet between both species or one species leaving Vi’irnas all ended the same way: large shouting matches that got nothing done.

While the diplomats were arguing, the citizens of both colonies started arming themselves, afraid that they were going to be forced out of their home. The pressure between both sides had been building for weeks, until the dam finally burst.

A Dryzal scouting party encountered a Human outpost, and a panic ensued. Nobody could prove that either side had started the fight, but the outcome was as clear as the waters of Olon. Five humans had been killed, three of which had been asleep at the time, and two dryzal wounded.

This spark was all the Dryzal Councils needed, they sent a wave of troops to take over Vi’irnas and oust the Humans from their homes. Of course, the Humans fought back, and they fought back hard. Anybody who was old enough to hold a gun defended their home, several videos surfaced of Human Children fighting against Dryzal death squads, some of them actually managing to survive the encounter.

The Dryzal Middle Council had expected a quick takeover of Vi’irnas, their troops had better armor and weapons than the colonists, as well as years of training. Yet, the Humans had something stronger, Hope and Fear. Hope that they would survive and that help would come in time to stop the siege, and Fear that they wouldn’t survive and that they would die alone.

Sadly, the colonists’ fears were correct. The Dryzal Head Council authorized two squadrons of Elites to secure the planet. You heard me right, it took two Elite squadrons to take the planet from a group of Human civilians, and apparently the Planetary Advisor was begging them for a third.

Nevertheless, the colonists were slaughtered. Their ‘guerrilla warfare’ was no match for long-range plasma throwers and kinetic-resistant body armor. The colony was ordered to be left empty, as a reminder to those who challenge the Dryzal.

Human troops pulled into orbit not a day later, responding to the distress calls of the deceased colonists. What they found brought shock and horror to humans across the galaxy. The Dryzal had removed every sign of life from the empty shells of buildings. Crops had been burned, cattle slaughtered, and buildings caved in. Apparently a photo appeared on the human DataNet. It showed a photo of a young girl who couldn’t have been older than five, holding a doll tight to her chest, and plasma burns covering her face.

There was a single day of silence from the humans, more likely due to shock than any kind of mourning. Then, the Humans sent a single message to the Dryzal High Council. It was short, but the anger and malice it carried were powerful.

It simply read: You have slaughtered our people without showing any mercy, that will be the last mistake your kind ever makes. Good luck and Goodbye.

Death rained down on Dryzal throughout the sector, no ship was fast enough, nor was any bunker hidden enough to escape the wrath of humanity. Hellfire and righteous fury seemed to fuel the humans, with a single cry uniting them “Remember Vi’irnas, and make sure they don’t forget either!”

To even dare to say that the humans fought their enemy ‘In Cold Blood,’ or without emotion, is an insult to Humanity as a whole. The Hope and Fear of the colonists as they defended their home and their families, the worry of the first soldiers as their shuttles touched down on a dead colony, their rage sparked by the deaths on Vi’irnas, and the mercy they gave to the Dryzal High Council by accepting their surrender. They may have acted harshly, and they may have been devils incarnate who slaughtered their enemies on the battlefield, but never let someone tell you that it was in cold blood.

Humans are Space Orcs?

This came out so much longer than I expected. Kinda sorry but also not sorry.

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The peaceful alien world had heard the stories. Although they had not achieved space travel themselves, they have, on occasion, received visitors from other worlds. The overwhelming message from every other race: Humans are brutish, vile, violent, and most importantly cunning. You can never trust a human, and, if possible should kill on site.

The villagers had gathered around the crashed ship. The elders were sure of it, these were humans. They could not mistake the description given to them by the other races. Four of the five were clearly deceased, while one was unconscious and severely wounded. No one wanted to get too close, while the warriors gathered their arms to do the deed.

One little girl, however did not share the fear of the others. Walking through the elders, and right past the warriors, the girl approached the wounded human.

"Child. What do you think you are doing!" One warrior barked.

"Saving a life." The girl replied casually.

"That is a human. You must let it die." One elder spoke up.

"Since I was old enough to think, you elders have taught me that life is sacred. So I am going to preserve this life." The little girl remarked.

"We can not allow it." The warrior spoke back up.

"Well than you will have to kill me." The girl bluffed.

She knew the warriors would not dare raise their arms against a child. even if she did defy them, they would be dishonored for life. This did, however offer protection for the wounded human. They could not finish off the human without killing the girl, and they would not do so.

"The human will kill you when they awake!" The warrior tried to reason.

"Then I will have died to save a life. If there is a just deity, I will be rewarded." The girl countered.

A few tense minutes passed, before the villagers relented. Retreating to the safety behind theirs doors they left the girl to attempt to save the human. She knew little of their physiology, only that the red fluid leaking from the skin needed to stop. She bandaged them up the best she could.

Several tense hours passed before the human started to stir. The girl retreated several feet. The human opened their eyes shortly after that. Taking a few minutes to assess themselves, The human realized they had been bandaged up.

"Did you dress my wounds?" The human asked.

"Yes." The girl replied, retreating a bit further.

"Why do you seem afraid?" The human questioned.

"You are a human, right? You might kill me." The girl answered.

"What kind of monster would kill someone who saved their life?" The human asked in disbelief.

"The elders and warriors thought you would." Came the answer. "My name is Terralia.

"You can relax, I wont hurt you. I am Jacob." Jacob replied.

Jacob recovered slowly. Turning on the distress beacon from his damaged ship, he knew it would be months, if not years before anyone received it. It may not be received at all, given that few species responded to human distress signals. Jacob lived in the woods outside the village, as the townspeople where not comfortable with a human living among them.

Terralia would sneak out of the village whenever she could, to visit her human friend. She would bring food and supplies when she could. Although Jacob managed to get by without them, he still very much appreciated the gesture. Years went on and Jacob and Terralia became good friends.

Then Terralia stopped visiting. Jacob tried not to worry at first, but as the weeks went on, his concern grew too large. Heading to the village, Jacob was determined to figure out what happened. The villagers avoided eye contact with the human. Some scurried away when they saw him. Others simply ignored his existence, hoping he would go away soon.

"You must be Jacob." Came a voice behind him. The voice belonged to an older villager, one of the elders.

"Aye." Jacob replied. "I am simply wondering if Terralia is okay."

"Dreadful business." The elder replied. "A high ranking warrior from another village tried to bargain for her hand. The offer was refused, as she was our most powerful priestess and we could not give her up. Not to mention she had no desire to wed the warrior. A couple weeks ago, the warrior attacked with a band of his comrades and kidnapped her. We would have mounted a rescue, but the villages military strength is far greater than ours."

"Where is the village located?" Jacob asked.

"Face the setting sun. It is around a two day journey in that direction. Their village is not like ours. Where we welcome travelers with open access, they have high walls and gates. Fearsome as your species may be, I fear even you may not be able to do anything." The elder explained.

"Let me worry about that." Jacob replied

Jacob returned to the remains of his ship. Heading into the cargo hold, he opened the vault he hoped he would never have cause to. Inside, the pinnacle of humans man to man combat suits. The suit muffled movement noise and was bullet proof. It was also equipped with state of the art camouflage tech, adapting to its surroundings to make it near invisible. With it, a six shot grenade launcher, assault rifle, sidearm, copious ammunition two breaching charges and a grenade belt.

Equipping the gear, Jacob set out the direction the setting sun. Arriving at the edge of the enemy village as the sun was setting, Jacob set up post in the treeline, observing their patrol patterns. Quickly analyzing the pattern, he built a plan, then put it into motion.

The walls only one gate, however they were made of moderate size logs. Jacobs breaching charge could get through it with ease. With the cover of night, Jacob applied the breaching charge to the side of the fort, then retreated to the tree line and waited. Before long the patrol came back, and the gate opened. Once the gate was all the way open, Jacob set off the breaching charge, blowing a ten foot hole in the wall of the fort.

The warriors reacted exactly as Jacob had hoped, abandoning the open gate they charged towards the new hole. As Jacob walked through the open gate, he found nearly all the warriors gathers in a tight pack around the hole in the wall. Thinking to himself how easy this was, Jacob fired all six rounds from his grenade launcher. Explosions threw bodies left and right, and bodily fluids splattered the area. Those who survived clung to life, desperately trying to crawl away from the area.

A group of warriors not in that pact charged hard at Jacob. Bringing his assault rifle up, he open fired. A new body dropped with every shot Jacob took. The small band lay dead meters away from him, as he turned his attention back towards the dying men who were hit with the grenade launcher, he finished them off with ease.

Moving through the rest of the village, Jacob easily slaughtered everyone he came in to contact with. Burning down the buildings after he cleared them, he continued through the village. Eventually he came to a large building. Banners hung on the walls around the entrance, and silver donned the window and door frames. Booting the door open, Jacob entered.

"Terralia was sure you would come. Kept saying it over and over. She is locked in a cell in the next room. You have slaughtered my comrades with your infernal weapons and orcish violence. If you have a shred of honor in your soul, you will lay down your arms, and fight me, with the weapons of our people." The warrior demanded, gesturing to a weird looking sword. Bladed on one side, the other formed into a pick at the top. With it a shield and dagger.

Without hesitation, Jacob raised is assault rifle and put three rounds into the nameless warrior. The warrior dropped, coughing up blood. Standing over him, Jacob fired more rounds into the helpless soldier. When the coughing and twitching stopped, Jacob fired two more rounds into the warriors head for good measure, before heading into the next room.

"I warned them you would come for me." Terralia said from behind bars. "I told them my human friend would not sit idle while I was abducted."

"How did you know?" Jacob asked. "I have not done a single violent thing in the entire time you have known me."

"It does not matter," Terralia replied. "I have heard the stories from visitors from other worlds. Humans can be compassionate, however they are also capable of great violence."

Unlocking the cell, Jacob left the village with Terralia. Returning her to her village, he was regaled as a hero. Continuing to live in the woods, he made frequent trips into the village, being welcomed by nearly everyone from that day on.

Eventually another human ship came across his distress beacon. Landing near his crashed ship, he met them shortly after they landed. After ensuring they were they for him, he returned to the village one last time. This time to say his goodbyes. Terralia was sad to see him go, as he was sad to leave his alien friend as well, but they said goodbye to each-other and Jacob was off.

The weeks went on, and life in the little village returned back to normal. Many had already forgotten the human was ever there, but not Terralia. One night, as she hover on the edge of the village star gazing, she caught sight of a ship approaching the surface. Hoping it was her human friend, she became excited. Her excitement faded though, as she soon realized the ship was coming in much too fast to land. This was an incoming crash.

The air exploded with thunder as the ship crashed a short ways outside the village. The village warriors gathered up, along with their priestess Terralia. As they entered the wreckage, there was no doubt this was a human vessel. On the flight deck all humans were accounted for, none still alive. The blood soaked the room, their computers still displaying their screens. Targeting system still live, it was clear this ship had been knocked out of the air in combat.

Finding all life forms deceased, there was nothing that could be done. The group turned to leave, before spotting a slogan above the door to the flight deck.

"Demons flee, when good men go to war"

Among the many stories of the Vul’nak war, few truly stand out to me. A war of senseless violence and endless bloodshed, that ended in nobody gaining much of anything.

An escort ship, the Lightning Bolt, happened to be out on patrol when the Vul’nak mothership was chased into their sector of space.

The mothership was the most terrifying ship in the entire fleet, with enough weapons to glass an entire continent in an hour. She was fast too, fast enough to avoid the fleet pursuing her.

The orders from high command went out to every ship in the sector: locate the mothership at any cost, slow her down until reinforcements arrive.

The captain of the Bolt knew that there was no time to waste, and aims his ship directly towards the last known system the Mothership was seen in.

12 hours. It took the crew of the Bolt 12 hours to succeed where an entire fleet had failed, they had found the mothership.

The crew of the Bolt faced an important decision. Keep their distance and risk losing their foe again, or risk their lives and pray that reinforcements arrive.

To the crew there was no choice, the Mothership must not be allowed to continue any further.

The captain send a single broadcast, then orders the crew to engage with all weapons. Only one ship was allowed to leave.

For over an hour, the Bolt held its own against the Mothership. Outgunned, outmanned, outclassed, but still alive. Striking their hull whenever possible while dodging deadly laser strikes, like an interstellar game of cat and mouse.

When the Fleet finally arrived, they were greeted with a transmission from the Bolt, the same transmission that had been playing on loop since they had first engaged the Mothership.

A message that would eventually strike fear into the hearts of enemies, and rally courage in allies. A single sentence that meant so much more than simple words could convey.

“I AM A HUMAN!”

We've talked a little about this before, but let's dive into the why.

Why are aliens so opposed to humans smiling?

One of the most well known and widely warned about traits of humans is their smile. The alien species known as humans use smiling as a means of friendliness. Various context clues trigger a smile, from "I am showing I am happy to see you", to "I'm trying to diffuse the tense situation," to even "I hate you but I'm gonna be polite about it." With so many "friendly" uses, humans smile and they're smile a LOT. Even a more knowledgeable human can slip up.

Even on their own planet, humans are one of the very few who do this. Similar species, both apes and monkeys, will smile in either submission or aggression.

Teeth are a common occurrence across the universe. They evolve for one or both reasons: to eat (especially meat) and for defense.

If an alien is from ancestors who were often bottom of the food chain, it stands to reason that a smile translates to "I will eat you."

With predator species, a smile subconciously translates to one of two things. Defensive or dominance.

Dominance: "I am better than you. I will bite you if you don't agree."

Defensive: "I feel threatened. I will bite you if you don't back off."

Though rare, a handful of alien species consider smiling to be a submissive trait. "My teeth are clamped. I won't bite you." This could have led to humans being bullied, if humans were so easily bullied.

Just as aliens are warned of this trait, so are the humans. A single, uninformed human can quickly cause a lot of stress and tension in a ship simply by trying to do the opposite.

The best course of action, everyone found, was a simple tool. Masks are often put to use to hide the ferocious smiles.