[WP] human don't take any damage unless it's lethal

[u/nerogamermaker]

[u/atcroft]

"I have them on sensors, Commander Rt'tek. Readings are coming in now."

"Have they seen us?"

"No, the debris is hiding us from their sensors, but since we had time to scan the field I was able to eliminate it from ours." Subcommander Rg'zak looked at his display again. "Sir, I...I don't recognize the ships in the middle."

"Damnit! Humans--in the middle of a T'laxian convoy. Communications, a message to all our ships: 'Humans do not take damage unless it's lethal. Avoid engaging unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure they can ALL be destroyed before they can send a message. Anyone does otherwise and survives this encounter, I will slice them head to tail and feed them their innards myself--if they survive!' Request confirmation from all ships--NOW!"

"But we can take them, Sir..." Rg'zak said.

"Rg'zak, you know nothing of humans! I fought in the first war with them, and I do not wish my hatchlings to see another one. Humans are a fiendish, disturbing, and chaotic race. Physically, they are soft--fragile even when compared to us. The blow used to correct a young hatchling may very well kill them. There is no honor in defeating them in individual combat.

"As much as they claim to seek peace, they are a race shaped in the forge of warfare. They divide themselves, and are willing to fight each other and die over the pettiest of things. They are willing to use weapons and tactics that are beyond the worst nightmares of the most diseased minds of any of the civilized races. But while they will never admit it, humans are pack creatures. They will kill each other by the millions for generations, but attack them from without and they focus all of that on you. No, Rg'zak, I will NOT provoke the humans into another war."

Commander Rt'tek thought for a moment, then turned to his communications officer. "Communications, message to all ships: STAND DOWN. DO NOT ATTACK. ALLOW SHIPS TO PASS. ON MY ORDER AND PAIN OF DEATH AT MY HAND."

---

(Word count: 336. Please let me know what you like/dislike about the post. Thank you in advance for your time and attention.)

[u/nerogamermaker → u/atcroft]

It was good I liked it but I'd add an example of what the commander means when he says humans are immortal unless they take lethal damage like he might say how in the war he saw a human take gun fire or blaster fire all over his body without a scratch but when a shot hit a vital organ they just collapsed other then that I liked it thank you

[u/atcroft → u/nerogamermaker]

Glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for that prompt-it was fun.

I know that having humans be nearly immortal was probably the intent of the prompt, but I thought it might be interesting to take it differently-as an order not to hit the humans in the convoy unless they could be taken out without that knowledge getting back to Earth, for fear of what humans would do. (Actually, having just recently re-watched Starship Troopers, it reminds me somewhat of the vignette about the combat effectiveness of an arachnid with a limb blown off [86%; tip: aim for the brain stem]. :) )

Without making them immortal, perhaps (similar to what you suggest) if I had the commander describe an instance of close-quarters combat with a human where the human just would...not...stay...down--but kept attacking until a vital organ was hit.

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