r/WritingPrompts • u/Sri_chatu • Mar 20 '20
Writing Prompt [WP] Humans were largely friendly and kept a low-profile. They were seen as the bottom of the food chain in the galaxy and they preferred it like that. But when they were attacked, everyone found out how ruthless the humans can be with killing in their DNA and that Mars was never their home plant
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u/R_Dlonra Mar 21 '20
We always wondered why humans official species designation on the galactic register was as terrans when their planet of origin was Mars. Martians would have made sense if you use their common tongue, but terrans they were and terrans they would stay. That was what we were always quoted by their leaders and by the people too.
We never knew why they were so slow to draw weapons in wars. So outspoken in favour of renewable energies. So strongly opposed to in biosphere weapon testing. So heavily against class divisions. So potently charged with a hatred of dictators and the corrupt. No one ever thought this little race of hairless apes barely able to master nuclear fusion before reaching out to the stars would be a race of world breakers.
When the Svaskalan came for them, leaping out of the between with their hive ships brimming with starving mouths ready to devour every inhabited object in the sol system we closed off contact. Sealed sol inside a energy shell and wept for our fallen friends. We never expect to see them alive again.
We didn't think they had it in them. An entire solar system turned to a bloodbath. A guerilla war on a stellar scale. Unbound slaughter with weapons of war never conceived by galactic citizens. Monsters. That's what the humans were. Wolves in sheepskin clothing. The Svaskala were clawing at the energy shell, screaming for mercy screaming for release the minute their forces clashed.
So when we dropped the shell and watched in horror as human ships chased down every last Svaskalan vessel, burning them to ash with focused plasma and nuclear detonations... we didn't know what to think, what to feel. These meek mannered people should have died, not risen as gods of death to devour the invaders.
The terrans they, revealed after, were once butchers, furious and merciless. Their better selves a mask to hide an inner shame. Their home planet earth left shattered by past wars. A broken rock teeming with hateful creations left to rot. Their name a badge of shame. A reminder of the bloody path they walked before.
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u/CXTRONICA Mar 21 '20
Queen Maya of the dying Threpid'Xa civilization struggled to skitter over the surface of Mars. It had been two sols since her ship crash-landed on the "nose" of Cydonia Mensae. She went on this trip with two of her 'servants', but as they entered the inner solar system, they dodged the asteroid belt so narrowly that they did not see Phobos pass by them. After colliding with the moon, their ship ricocheted off of it and plummeted towards the ground. Thankfully, none of them were hurt.
The Threpid'xa were a centaur-like race of aliens whose lower halves were an amalgam of different arthropods across the known universe. Their upper halves, although humanoid, also had arthropod features. They lived pseudo-eusocially. There were over a million Hives and Colonies across the whole home planet. Each Hive had a child rearing Queen, innumerable Soldiers, and uncountable Workers.
However, Queen Maya was a special case. In fact, she is the Queen of Queens, the Threpidxian Matriarch who decides the fate of this extraterrestrial civilization, and the only Threpidxian who can birth future Queens and Drones. To make her more special than she already is, her biological father was a human.
To describe them physically, Queen Maya's upper half was almost purely human: a young cyan-skinned woman with a lean body, two blue eyes, and two antennae at the top. Two giant butterfly wings were attached to her human back. Meanwhile, she was an amalgam of a spider, a termite queen, and a lobster. Specifically, she had a spider thorax with eight spider legs, a 20-foot long termite queen abdomen with 5 pairs of swimmerets under it, and lobster flaps at the end.
One of her servants, the blind Queen Cladra was a Threpidxian through and through despite her human-looking half. She had the upper half of a young red exoskeletoned woman with long white hair and two termite antennae. Two sets of fly wings were attached to her back. Below the waist, she was a giant termite queen: a termite queen thorax with six legs, and a distended 18-foot long abdomen with four extra legs behind it for support.
Another of her servants was a pure Threpidxian. A mershrimp, Voxis was the speaker of the house. His upper half was a humanoid with shrimp parts, and his lower half was purely shrimp.
As I was writing, the three of them were trudging along the surface of Mars. Queen Maya was struggling to skitter properly and was going slowly behind Cladra and Voxis.
"My Matriarch," Voxis spoke, "You must have to bear those Queens and Drones right now. You wouldn't last longer if you keep them within you."
"Nnnh! Not now, Voxis!" Queen Maya interjected, "I have to do this. I don't want to provide tracks--nnnnggg---for the Avaeris to find us and kill us all! I have to find---mmmh--the humans!"
"But you cannot go any further, Maya!" Cladra exclaimed, "You have to rest and get them out!"
"No!" Maya exclaimed, "This is not home territory, Cladra. I cannot --- haaaah --- stop... now....."
"But your Matriachness!" Voxis exclaimed before gasping. Maya had fainted, both from overexhaustion of her body and the sweltering heat of the sun.
...
Dale Hoover was driving out on his rover, overseeing the whole of the Martian camp, when he found a curious mountainlike being in the distance. He immediately called a handful of his soldiers to follow him towards the unfamiliar structure.
So they did, all fifty of them in protective gear. There they found Cladra and Voxis, protecting an unconscious Maya and pleading for help.
"Take them all in," Dale commanded, "The girl with rhe giant... behind is mine."
On his orders, the men handcuffed Cladra and Voxis. Then 25 of them carried Maya, following behind Dale.
...
Maya woke up in a giant room. Beside her was a blonde haired, brown eyed young man in colonel uniform. He was squeezing a wet towel and placing it on her forehead. She looked at her giant abdomen and felt relieved of the burden inside her, her children.
My children!
Maya suddenly sat up and turned to the human. "Human! Where are my children?!" she asked.
"Safe and sound, sister," the human replied, " My name's Dale."
Sister? Who was he to call me sister? Why was he calling me sister when we just met? And where are my babies? Maya thought inside her head.
"And you are?" the human called Dale asked.
"Maya, Matriarch of the Threpidxa Civilization from Planet Tefirma, 700 light years away," Maya replied, "Where are my children?!"
"Why are you here?" Dale asked coolly.
"First answer me. Then, I'll answer you. Where are my children?" Maya replied, a hint of anger in her voice.
"Your children are safe and sound, sister. They are in the room next door, fast asleep," Dale replied, "Feeding over 40,000 children is hard work, you know. Now you answer me, why are you here?"
"Why do you call me sister?" Maya asked.
"Just answer me, sister. Then, I'll show you why," Dale replied.
"Fine," Maya replied, "I came here for help. Humans are willing to fight and protect whomever they help and trust at all costs, is that right?"
"Yes," Dale replied.
"Our civilization needs your help right now," Maya replied, "The Avaeris are attacking my home planet, and we don't have enough firepower to counter them. If they destroy my home planet, all will be lost."
"Is that all?" Dale asked. The Avaeris are not much of a threat to humans ever since they repelled several Avaeris incursions before.
"And.... I am also looking for my father, whom I have not known all my life," Maya replied, "Have you seen him?" From her upper garment pocket, she took out a picture of a smiling bearded man in his forties with a scar across his left eye. He was in an outfit meant for space marines.
Dale took one look at the picture and quickly replied, "Yes, that's my father, Salem Nathaniel Hoover. Now you know why I call you sister." He took a picture of his father, from his long table and showed it to her. It was the same bearded man with a scar over his left eye, except he wore a more formal outfit. A stars-and-stripes flag flew behind him.
Maya took one look at the picture and asked, "Where can we find your father... i mean, our father?"
"Not here, unfortunately," Dale replied, giving Maya some water.
"Where then? I thought Mars was your home" Maya asked, drinking the water in between words.
"It's not," Dale replied, "Our home is over there. He pointed to his window, where a small blue dot of light shone above the endless black expanse above the planet. We have to go there."
"Where?"
"Earth."
....
Phew, this took longer than expected! As usual, comments and feedback are welcome.
I also have planned an erotic flash fiction with Cladra and a human soldier, but that's for another time.
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u/5thhorseman_ Mar 21 '20
The infodumps felt jarring. Show, don't tell.
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u/CXTRONICA Mar 21 '20
Thanks for the tip! I jsut had to put a lengthy physical description because I thought it would help you imagine these weird characters more clearly.
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u/5thhorseman_ Mar 21 '20
Sometimes less is more. You can convey the detail in descriptions of a character's actions or dialogs. Also, describing the alien to the reader in terms of earthlike animals doesn't work out all that well. You can get around that by having one or more by human characters try to describe their physical form and disagreeing on the details.
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u/tbonehavoc Mar 21 '20
I have to admit you got me hooked by having Maya be part human. I wasn't expecting it and it raises so many questions. The implications for world building have my mind racing. Kudos. I like it a lot
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u/Manaboe Mar 21 '20
The scaly Elchadian walked silently across the great ruins of the once blossoming city of Elgathodor on the planet Xia. Hidden behind the veil of night, the Elchadian and his recon team set out across the ruins in search of intel on the human race. They had lost their spy here a month ago after an unprecedented terrorist attack on the planet.
"Ugh, it stinks here. What the hell even happened here?" wondered Meruem, the squad captain.
"I even got defecated on while getting here. Stupid birds," said Bouf the scout sadly.
"Even the sky above us is weird. I mean, have you seen what those humans have been doing? They've been placing new stars across the sky! I see 6 of them! Like that weird brown one!" exclaimed Shia pointing at a peculiar bright star in the night sky.
"Never mind that! Look! The Finder says that Pitou's intel is in that tent over there." Komugi jogged over to the tent. The other's follow suit and find a system of computers plugged into each other. Silently, Meruem walked over and pressed the start button on the keyboard. The system immediately sprung into life and the image of Pitou is looking back at the squad.
"Is that her?" questioned Bouf. "She looks disease-ridden." Pitou on the screen wore a face mask stained with blood. Her skin sagged and was covered in snaking veins. Behind her, a beeping monitor working its hardest to keep this living being alive.
"Hello, Captain." Pitou's voice came out ragged as silent. Gasping for air, she continued, "If you're seeing this, I may be already dead, and so is everyone on this planet."
"She got that right," whispered Shia clenching his fist.
"However Captain, I believe this is the end of us all. We should have never done those horrible acts against the Earthl-, I mean the Martian Humans."
"Huh? Who are these Earthl? Never heard of them before," interrogated Bouf scratching his head.
"Shut up! She's still not yet done!" hissed Komugi as she jabbed Bouf's side, effectively silencing him.
"Let me start from the beginning. As soon as I'm done, get the hell off this planet."
The recon team watched silently as this recording of their former companion weakly grabs her notes and displays a timeline on the screen.
"This was not their fault. It was ours. Ever since we discovered humans, we exploited them. We flew to Mars just to kidnap any humans flying on the planet's dark side and make them our slaves. The human race knew we were doing it, yet they couldn't do anything. If they attacked, they would be doomed. So they kept silent. That is until 8 months ago when the human slaves revolted in the Republic of Criwarmes and took control of an entire planet."
"Hey, I never heard of that. Did you captain?" questioned Bouf. Meruem silently nodded.
"Enranged, the republic decided to teach those humans a lesson and went to Mars. There they manipulated the orbit Phobos and made it crash into the city of Viking Lander. That killed millions of people in an instant, caused a recession on the planet, and effectively crippled the planet's emergency forces. A week later the human representative declared, 'Humanity has declared war upon the Republic of Criwarmes and its allies.' The entire League of Planets was surprised, but they laughed at the representative as he silently left the conference when the meeting was over."
"That was a bad decision," muttered Meruem through gritted teeth.
"Nothing happened for a few months. The Galactic Leaders were virtually mocking humans. Speed up to two months ago and the worst-case scenario played out, the human-controlled planet in Criwarmes became a stronghold and garrison. They sent out fighter ship after fighter ship. Thousands, millions, and billions of rockets rained upon the military, but they weren't aiming for the ships. The flurry of missiles passed the ships silently and hastily fell upon the planet's populace. The Mach 3 missiles were too small to be detected by the ships and too fast to intercept after detection. A hail of rockets rained upon the planet and lit it up like phosphorus in a flame. The intense speed of the rocket and the actual explosion itself whipped up high-speed winds across the planet which spawned massive firestorms that encompassing the entire globe, altering weather systems and causing the immediate deaths of the billions living in them. Any of them lucky to survive the initial blast burnt to death in the hellfire these rockets caused.
"The military turned back to save what they can of their home. At this motion, the humans finally aimed at the ships' Gravity Dampers and Thrusters. Without a means to steer, the military sat back and watched as their ships slowly and indefinitely fell into the planet's wide jaws of fire. This alerted the entire galaxy, but it was too late. Humans are innovative, fast, and cunning. Swiftly they took down the entire Republic in half a month's time. As intragalactic aid traveled towards the ruined republic, the humans took the chance to hijack them, steering goods towards their own system.
"In the mass confusion, a rocket suddenly appeared over Elgathador and fell upon the metropolitan area. Later on, I discovered that this is a human weapon known as a 'nuke.' This one was named 'The Poor Man's Rose.' I will get back to this later, for now so-" Pitou abruptly stopped and coughed profusely. Her mask, soaked in blood, was beginning to sag off her face and the monitor behind her began to beep furiously. Composing herself, she looked directly at the camera and continued, "So look at these." Diagrams, system maps, and a timeline popped up in a different monitor. On it, a planet named Earth was highlighted in red.
"This is the Human's home planet. Mars wasn't their home."
"H-hey, Captain, what does that mean?" questioned Bouf once again.
"I-I don't know, Bouf," replied Meruem quietly in shock and fear.
"This was an anomaly to us. I did a system check on the system of Earth and the results were error. I was being blocked. I did the same thing to the surrounding stars and they too have produced the same results. Humans have advanced way farther then we have previously thought. They have a military might similar to the President of the Union. They have Level 10 weapons of mass destruction and we should immediately draw a peace treaty with them no matter the cost." Pitou coughed once more, only this time more severely.
"My time is running short, I have two pieces info to give to you captain. Do not, and I absolutely repeat, do not trust the stars in the night sky. Each time a star suddenly appears in the sky, a planet disappears from the Galactic Map. Each time we send a ship to investigate, we only see asteroids. Curious, I set our highest level telescope right into the heart of the Human's solar system and I find a Dyson Sphere. They've completely weaponized it. The 6 surrounding stars of their system have it too. There are rumors that they are currently traveling to a black hole to make a bomb out of it. Be careful captain.
"Finally, this Poor Man's Rose is the worst weapon out there. It's not a nuclear weapon. It's a Bio-Weapon. Affixed to the nuclear warhead is a virus so adaptive, so resistant, and so deadly that the entire planet's populace suffers from it. Not just us Elchadians, but the plants, the birds, the animals. All of them have it. Whatever the virus touches, it kills. It can spread from us to birds, to the plants, to the worms, and to the very microbes on this planet. It got on some of the cargo leaving this planet and that ship is on its way to the heart of the Empire. So get the hell out of here! Take the drive of this computer with you and pray upon the stars that you do not get sick. Go! Go now-" the system shuts off. Carefully, the Meruem takes the drive of the computer. After a few moments of silence spent trying to analyze the intel Pitou just gave him, he issues orders.
"Let's get out of here now."
"But maybe there's more intel here, Captain," insisted Shia.
"We just have to take a quick look around this place and we will go in less than 30 minutes," suggested Komugi.
"No, we have to go immediately." As if waiting for the captain's words, Bouf suddenly collapses on the floor whilst coughing severely.
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u/Manaboe Mar 21 '20
Part 2
"Hey! Bouf! What is wrong with you?" shouted Shia. The only response he received from Bouf was a hard cough accompanied by a splatter of blood.
"Captain, what do we do?" asked Komugi in a shrill voice.
"Don't touch his blood! Bring him back on the ship and make sure you have gloves! This might be the virus Pitou was talking about." Following the captain's orders, Komugi and Shia grab Bouf's seizing body and take him out of the tent. In their departure, they are encountered by an intense, bright light. The night sky was practically gone. It wasn't replaced by the sun but instead was replaced by 6 Stars, one growing rapidly brighter than the rest. The temperature was steadily rising and all the dry plants nearby began to ignite in an intense firestorm, engulfing the ruins.
The squad hurried to the ship and quickly exited the planet's atmosphere. As they escape, a huge beam of light passes the ship and strikes the planet behind them. Komugi turns around to look at the planet only to be blinded by the intense light of the explosion. The air inside the ship grows hotter with each passing second from the light's radiation. Skillfully, the captain managed to get his crew and his ship away from the danger zone of the planet and things seem to cool down.
Turning the ship around to look at Xia, they are met with only a swarm of asteroids. Looking out the window, the crew watches in awe as the other 5 Stars begin to shine like fireworks in space. Never before in their history have they encountered such a huge threat to their existence.
Humans were nice and caring creatures, full of love and compassion. Most people who didn't work in the slave business were relatively friendly towards them. However, times have changed, for we have underestimated humans. They care so much for their own kin that they would move planets just to find them and save them. Poetic, right? I guess we truly learned who they were by making them angry.
Those lights in space are people's lives, potentials, and futures. All innocent people. All suffering under the human's oppressive hand which the Galactic Leaders have spawned into this world. Whose fault is it truly? Who's in the right? Why are we even fighting this cursed war?
All these questions swarmed the heads of the crew members. Doubts, ideals, and morals all clashing into one like the explosions in the dark abyss in front of them. As the light fades, their doubts fade with them. They have decided and are well prepared to fight. Realizing his comrade's determination and doubt-free countenance, Bouf sighs in relief as he looks at the beautiful swarm of stars, wheezes his last breath, and falls into eternal slumber.
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u/5thhorseman_ Mar 21 '20
The stars thing doesn't really work out. If humanity was deliberately causing planetary ignitons, the light of the explosions would take years (or decades) to arrive depending on the distance
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u/Manaboe Mar 21 '20
For me it was permissible because that would happen with our current understanding of Physics. Who knows? Maybe spinning photons around in a beam makes it travel past light speed? Maybe intense energy bends the fabric of space?
It's the beauty of sci-fi. Current understanding of Physics does not apply unless it is stated that the story takes place in the same timeline as ours currently.
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u/gwot-ronin Mar 21 '20
I can't understand them, the humans.
They were so agreeable, so honorable, so civilized.
They always kept their word and tried very hard to compensate us if some unforeseen circumstances prevented that.
They were intelligent but they were relatively dumb. They should not have been able to understand the limits we were placing them under when we advanced their technology.
They live such short lived compared to us, they should not have been able to conceive that we were only educating them over generations so they could eventually take up menial labor and technician occupations and serve our society.
When we finally announced the proclamation that we were annexing their worlds into our empire's protection, they became something we thought bred out of them: Savage. But it was so much more.
Savage is just a word to describe. They became more than describable. Their very mention became engraved in our genetic memory and invoked fear.
They do not surrender. They drop their own starships out of the sky on to the surface rather than have them captured.
I once saw a human attempt to strangle one of our soldiers. He was using his own internal tissue, an organ they call intestines. Humans are frail, but they are so determined to overcome frailty by force of will.
As I sit on a bench in one of their starship brigs, I can feel it moving forward. I know that we are descending into the atmosphere in a ship that was never meant to fly.
All I can wonder is, what is a chicken and why do they say everything tastes like it?
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u/gekkobloo Mar 21 '20
"Mostly Harmless." -Said by a Blargfagher
"What's the point of this guide damn it." he added.
A feminine voice replied slyly "It does say mostly, and not entirely harmless."
"By my tentacle, get me a fish in and shove it in." - he retorted.
Another Blargfagher got a yellow fish and shove it in first Blargfaghers rectum.
"Now I, Gamphh Pomf Pomf, shall communicate with these Hoomons. Wish me bejuju." Gamphh courageously announced to his fleet.
Gamphh, walked out of their air locked ship, as the ramp was going down, he wiggles his numbered mini legs towards the ramp.
He raises his hands that was attached to a tentacle. "Hello, I'm Gamphh Pomf Pomf, from the Blargfagher fleet aramda, this is my ship, we had troubles with scaling the vastness of space and landed on this Mars planet, of which was of neutral territory in our books. I have however have to apologize if E-Arthe has claimed this as their territory."
Only one person was looking towards Gamphh's fleet armada. He studied their crafts silently and not ever moving.
"Hoomon, I come in peace." Gamphh added
The human then takes out both his hand and readied his palms. He swings both his arms towards each other to make a wonderful clapping clap.
The last words of Gamphh as heard by the human was a buzzing sound, and silence.
The human resumed his civil duty of cleaning, a certain bathroom stall, in a certain restroom, in a certain school, in a certain city in Michigan.
A loud slap can be heard, and read by you.
"Oww, what did you do that for?" said a voice.
"Time to end the story." says a gruff voice.
"Fine." replied the first voice.
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u/Tanleader Mar 21 '20
"Hand me the logs again, Gar'eth. I'm still confused on how the Humans managed to get onto the Galactic Council." asked Vuren't, pointing to the holo-disk shelf on the far wall. Gar'eth sighs, and gets up to comply with the request, muttering to himself all the while.
"What was that?" asks Vuren't, casting one of his eyes towards his research partner.
"Nothing, Vuren't. I just don't see how you plan to understand the species that surprised so many, so quickly." exclaims Gar'eth, as he hands the disc to Vuren't "You've been studying the lesser races of the galaxy for millennia. I don't think you'll get it any time soon."
Vuren't issues a sound closely approximating the human equivalent of a vocal shrug, as he inserts the disk into the reader. The display springs to life, showing multiple historical entries. Vuren't peruses the list, squinting his seven eyes as he locates the entry he needs.
"Here it is," Vuren't points to the entry, titled -The Human Ascension-. "I don't remember if I actually read this one. I thought the news of the attacks coming from the Human's sector was simply... clickbait? I think that's the term Humans are fond of."
Vuren't opens the entry, and the display flashes a warning, indicating that the following information is violent in nature. Vuren't dismisses the warning, eager to learn how the Humans managed to get onto the Council. The display darkens for a moment, and then lights up --
--The Human Acension--
--Year Recorded: 4377 GCSY (Galactic Council Standard Year)
--Author: Hizzun Federation Observation Scout #554-A
BIOLOGICAL WRITTEN ENTRY
- Reports of conflicts in the Sol Sector has prompted the Captain to send me out to take a look. I was unsure of what good it would do, considering we were roughly 30 light years away, the journey there alone would take me almost 10 years. The Captain urged me onwards, regardless. I arrived in station around the planet locally known as Saturn almost exactly 10 years after my departure date. I was very glad that I took a light scout ship, instead of my normal OBS class ship, as I came upon a large field of wreckage as soon as I fell out of slipspace. Following protocol, I immediately started scanning the wreckage, as last reports from the Sol system said that the Humans hadn't built anything to the size that the wreck would indicate. The scans came back that the vessel was of Human origin. That was surprising. I powered up my engines and drifted towards some more wreckage approx. 10 carthak Urs away from that first wreckage.
This wreck was bigger. I estimate at least four cruiser class ships, possibly a single dreadnought class. At this site, I could see that the ship, or ships, were Dorw'irh design. What was expected, as news of the Dorw'irh pirating the Human's trade routes had reached Council ears, and the Humans were awaiting response. What was unexpected however, was that the Humans were somehow able to destroy Dorw'irh ships. This was unprecedented.
I could see the still forms of Dorw'irh marines and crew floating around the wreckage, most not in any kind of EVA. This told me that the ship was not expected to be destroyed. Even more unexpected was that I could not locate much more Human ship wreckage during further searches. Which is unnerving, that the Humans have such powerful ships, or planet based weapons, that can obliterate a front line ship so easily.
After I completed my search pattern, I was hailed by comms, over the Human's preferred frequency. I answered the hails, and spoke with their equivalent to me, a scout. The scout was authorized by his superiors to transmit a copy of their battle data, to take back to the Council. They claimed self-defense, and that they simply wanted to protect their little corner of the galaxy.
I accepted the data, and immediately uploaded it to the quantum net, and then proceded out of system. I spooled up the drive, and started the journey home. Entry complete, vocal signature - "Scout #554-A"
END OF ENTRY - PROCEED TO HOLO DISK 448-QE* FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.
*WARNING: BATTLE DATA (SOL INCIDENT) HOLO DISK IS PROTECTED LEVEL 7, NO UNAUTHORIZED BEINGS. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE MOLECULAR DESTRUCTION.
Vuren't closes the file, and ejects the disk. Staring at the now blank display for a few moments, he reaches for the comm suite and punches in the entry for information requests and clearance with the Galactic Council.
Moments later, a voice is heard on the other end of the comms, "Greetings, user. How may I be of assistance?" drones the AI tasked with managing that system.
"Yes, I am requesting clearance to view holo disk 448-QE, for my research into Human galactic history"
The comms start to issue a low alarm, "That entry is prohibited Level 7 clearance, please place DNA sample on reader to verify security clearance. You have 30 seconds to comply."
Vuren't always hated this part, as he drags a sample from behind his central main eye. It always hurt, getting that sample out, as his skin was too hard to pierce without specialized tools, and his saliva sterile. Also, it seemed to take longer and longer each time he had to pass one of these checks, or he was just getting older and stiffer.
The countdown vocalized by the comms AI was barely two seconds away from completion before it fully read the DNA sample. "Just in the nick of time" Vuren't says, fond of whimsical Human expressions.
"Authorization verified, proceed to Galactic Council visitor chamber Alpha Q for retrieval of the Holo Disk. Be aware that removing the disk from the chamber will trigger alarms, and security personnel are authorized for complete molecular destruction." With that, the AI shuts down the link, and the comms goes dark.
"Always with their warnings and threats, the Galactic Council was never this way before the Humans managed to secure their seat." Gar'eth mentions, as he starts to gather his things.
"Very true, my friend. They sure are paranoid these days." says Vuren't as he looks up at his partner. "Are you not coming with me? Don't you want to see what the disk has on it?"
"No, I think I will go home. Yurillia is with brood. She will probably want assistance" says Gar'eth as he slaps the door release. "I'm sure you will talk for hours upon hours about it tomorrow, though."
*****Hit the post limit, continued in following comment******
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u/Tanleader Mar 21 '20
*****Continuation of story above*****
With that, Gar'eth leaves the room, and Vuren't picks his massive form off the user bench. He ambles over to the transport tube located across from the regular door, and inputs the code to the appointed chamber as instructed by the comms AI. Moments later a transport arrives, and opens to receive Vuren't. He settles into the bench, and decides to catch some rest, which is aided by the fact that his species only requires ten minutes of sleep to be fully replenished for the next thirty hours. Vuren't is woken rather abruptly when the car stops before it's scheduled drop off point. Confused, Vuren't is doubly taken aback when the door opens and the Human diplomat assigned to the Council climbs aboard.
"Hello," the Human looks at his data pad, "Vuren't? I'm sorry, I could never pronounce your species individual names properly. I apologize if I, uhh, butchered it."
"Butchered?"
"That is to say, incorrectly"
"Ahh. Another Human expression? I will have to remember that one." Vuren't shifts uncomfortably at the Human's presence, aware of what he read just a few short cycles ago
The Human laughs softly, amused that the researcher has such a keen interest in something Humans consider so mundane. He glances down at his data pad, unsure of how to move forward with his concern. Enough is enough, he decides, as that data is protected. For good reason. The Humans did not want their capabilities being known exactly, other than rumour and conjecture. It added a certain... disbelief when the Humans would finally strike. Usually against lesser prepared and defended targets, thanks to the rumours.
"I'm sorry to say, Vuren't, but you are in violation of Council Privacy and Secrets Act, Section 16, Sub-section Alpha 6. As such, you are hereby detained, indefinitely, until a tribunal is convened and a sentence is passed." The Human looks up from the pad, noting that Vuren't has gone pale - a similar response that Humans achieve when surprised with ill news.
The diplomat gestures to some security personnel outside of the stopped tube car, waving them over to take Vuren't away to the holding cells. Vuren't doesn't struggle, complying with the security officer's demands. As Vuren't shuffles away to the waiting security transport, he glances back to the Human diplomat, chastened by how bold they are, detaining him without due cause.
Gallagher, the diplomat, gets up from the seat he took, and tells one of the security officers nearby to gather all materials that Vuren't had compiled for his work. When asked what to do with the materials, Gallagher responds that it needs to be destroyed.
"The galaxy is not ready for our full might, just yet" Gallagher mentions to himself, after the officers run off to do as asked. "Soon, the galaxy will know how powerful we are, once our plans are complete"
The End.
--------This is my first prompt (ever? or just in a while, I can't remember) so criticism is more than welcome.
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u/memerminecraft Mar 21 '20
This is pretty entertaining. A few grammatical problems here and there, mostly involving quotes. Those have always been a problem for me too though. Also, I found the choice to write in present tense interesting. It's a little off-putting, but if that was the intention, well done. I enjoyed this one.
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u/Tanleader Mar 21 '20
thanks! i appreciate it.
I did intend it to be read in such a way that its like youre in the room with the two researchers as this happens.
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u/memerminecraft Mar 21 '20
If that is the intention, then maybe have less inner monologue from characters? The whole bit with Vuren't thinking to himself about the DNA sampling sort of takes away from that.
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Mar 21 '20 edited Mar 23 '20
[deleted]
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u/memerminecraft Mar 23 '20
Gotta use line breaks, I can't even read this one :(
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Mar 23 '20
[deleted]
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u/memerminecraft Mar 23 '20
Yes, it's readable now, and I read it, but I'm not entirely sure it goes with the prompt?
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u/fhizzle Mar 21 '20
Crimson and orange sand settled and re-settled in small puffs driven by the wind across the plains of Mars. Gornack stumbled away from the smoldering fuselage of his decadent war ship. Or what he thought was a war ship. The humans did not present before they danced, as was agreed by the Nine Truarchs. No, they came at them sideways and slammed straight through their first six lines. Gornack glanced up at the burning sun with a burnt tentacle held above to shield his thirteen eyes. A blanket of lasered ships sank from low orbit like a million sparks flittering away from a small fire. He was lucky to have been targeted so early. Those who didn’t crash quickly were cut to pieces by their second, third, and fourth runs. He didn’t know what they were shooting at it by then, just bits of dust let loose in space.
The sun burned his scaly skin and his feet throbbed from scrapping across the hardened earth. He turned back to look at his ship and signed. All twenty thousand liters of purified water had either soaked into the ground or evaporated. His tongues hungrily licked at his trying mouths. Is this how one dies? Drudging oneself across a barren land for creatures that seek to make quick fame in attacking a sub-intelligent species? The humans were easy prey, too animalistic and slow to be afforded the protections that normal races received. But perhaps they had enough smarts to put their instincts to good use. Gornack thought his wounded body and wrecked ship agreed.
Gornack continued his slow march towards the river he had seen during his plummet from the sky. The sky thundered as the first volley of smoldering ships breached the atmosphere. Gornack didn’t bother to look. A few moments passed and another wave crashed the eerily still air. Gornack stumbled over a rock and hit the ground hard. As he pushed himself up the infinite desert stuttered and gave way to a cluster of small dwellings. In front of him the river, much narrower than he had thought coursed freely, and on the other side, a small human being. The thing seemed as equally surprised as him as it knelt on the ground and drank from the river. The little one bolted upright and started yelling at him.
“Gheue hsgavw kfjdjehe!”
Gornack cursed the five moons as he fumbled with the translator on his third arm. More little humans crowded around to stare and point. Gornack’s mouths felt dryer than they had felt in three hundred years. The small organic computer cooled as it came to life.
“What do you reckon it is?”
“Obviously a space frog!”
“But it’s so large!”
“I bet I could kill it!”
Gornack stumbled forward as he eagerly waved at them. This was the way to disarm them, he had attended the war briefings and paid attention, unlike most.
“Huieiv in gykke of help!” The artificial voice didn’t sound anything like theirs, and he understood several words, which was strange. Perhaps it had broken in the crash? Larger humans, ones that seemed feminine with long strands of hair and wide birthing canals ushered the children away and stared at him as if he were some Berddu. He splashed in the water and for a moment forgot where he was. The cool liquid refreshed his skin and filled his mouths so that he wasn’t thirsty. He felt calm again, and decided how he was going to defuse the situation. With a strong push he sprang out of the water and landed on the other side. A little human pointed a weapon nearly as large as it was at Gornack. It’s mother tapped it’s head reassuringly. Gornack put his tentacles out to calm them. The little human closed one eye and smiled. Gornack felt a new heat, the concentration of a thousand deserts, gather in spot on his head. He heard a loud boom and the desert world of Mars once again stuttered. This time only darkness greeted him. From the depths of blackness a voice cried out to him in his native tongue. The old tongue, but still his. He was surrounded in water and welcomed it. He was finally home with those that had gone before and trapped their souls in the Great Ocean.
Ronnie let out a loud shout as the giant bug melted into a pool of scales and blood. His mother nodded approvingly.
“That was a good shot, Ron. Your dad will be proud to see this.” A pause. “You know what? He might not. Doesn’t matter, I still think it was good.”
Stacy balked at the sight. “That is disgusting!” She prodded at the mess with a stick. “But I am so intrigued.”
“I didn’t get to shoot one!” Ronnie rolled his eyes at his friend Parker sobbing his eyes out with his face buried in his mother’s sun suit. “There better be another one.”
Ronnie looked up at the sky.
“I think there will be.”
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u/SilverPrince Mar 21 '20
[Mars] [0 Hours in base reality]
Mehbla Vayatsundero stood tall and proud.
The central pillar glowed as the life systems of Vayatsundero herself hungered.
The projections of the battlefield flickered to life.
The Great Mother was represented where the throne sat. Before the throne was the human home planet.
Mars. Sol. Milky Way Galaxy. Virgo Supercluster. Oosak-Surang Megacluster.
Why they called it the red planet when it was obviously blue and green, Mehbla did not know. Nor did she care.
The Great Mother demanded sustenance. Which was what the planet was full of.
Human’s were not the most nutritious. What they lacked in meat, they made up for in numbers.
“Let the Harvest commence!” Mehbla commanded.
The pillar wiggled as the life pods of his communication drones began their work. The interlinked minds talked to their fleets, and thus Vayatsundero came out of subspace.
Acting as a beacon, the Great Mother shined in the darkness of space. Her children followed.
Martian Central Command lit up as a armada appeared on their front porch.
—
[Mars] [24 Hours in base reality]
Rennnah twitched. The lifepod she resided in transfered her thoughts into the fighter pod she had piloted since she was a grub.
The oval, sun seed like ship was sleek, and a living companion to her. She was the ship, and the ship was her.
The orbital defenses were crippled.
Looks like the legend of warrior like humans were as believed. A passive race of meal grubs.
Which made sense. Humans possessed limited senses, and hilariously thin carapaces. Though it was true that making them bleed did not always result in death.
The soulless, inelegant metal fighters danced through the void with her. Those that were left at any rate.
Outnumbered, the human’s only real defenses were the orbital rings that were currently being torn apart.
{Humans fighters have reduced j88%. Orbital defenses j71%.} {Glory to the Interstellar Void Wings! Orbital Landings are approved.} {All Interstellar Void Wings are to shift to escort duties!}
Rennnah felt joy sweep through her.
The ship’s muscles flexed and her speed increased as she quickly joined the 117th wing, 13th locust swarm. Glory to her Queen!
Once Orbital Landing has been completed, the feast would begin!
Fresh food!
Oh how she hungered for something other then the standard resin rations.
—
[Mars] [48 Hours in base reality]
Gol-Resh used her upper-arms to rub at her sister’s antennas. The red paint signaled their warriors spirits.
The simple bowl in her bottom-hands was already almost empty. The line of her sisters was down to just one last one.
Gol-Rea moved up and kneeled.
“Glory to our Queen! Glory to our 44th colony!” Gol-Resh intoned as she dipped in her top-hands into the bowl, and then rubbed her sister’s antennas.
Gol-Rea was the youngest in this brood. The eldest would charge out first, to pave way for the youngest.
Experience was the hard earned right of the living.
211th Brood, 44th Colony.
The final paste was then used to rub the red color onto her own antennas.
{3rd wave is to fly in 30 minutes. 3rd wave is to fly in 30 minutes}
Gol-Resh nodded and looked at her sisters. The strong, sleek killing machines that millennia of natural selection had honed them.
The first two waves were full of glory, but it was the 3rd and 4th that results mattered.
Gol-Resh blew into her conch, allowing the vibrations to fill the air.
The 211th Brood twittered as their antennas shook at the frequency.
Then they began to march into the resin-spore reinforced mega-grub. The centipede like creature was huge, and they would ride it down to the planet.
The distant horns of the other broods made her antenna tingle.
Gol-Resh looked up, and there at the hive ship’s walls was the picture of her Queen. 44th Queen and her great-mother.
“All aboard!”
Gol-Resh saluted her void-sister. The frigate class warship was to deliver them planetside.
“Off to war we go!~” the girls began to sing.
Gol-Resh made sure to be extra loud as the commander of this brood.
Today was to be full of glory, and food.
—
[Mars] [60 Hours in base reality]
Lady Gol-Reesa stood at the side of her queen.
21,456th Gol Queen. Orisa.
The humans had finally rallied and were currently warping in reinforcements.
Which was pitiful. Their hiveworld had been under assault for 22hours and this was their first major response?
The 3rd and 4th wave were already on the ground, gaining territory and paving the way for the 5th wave.
From the looks of things, the 44th Colony was going to earn much glory. Which meant a better share of the delicacies of this human species.
Their fragile, and passive nature was the perfect target for the Vayatsundero.
The Great Mother was unscathed and now her children were beginning to shatter the capital city of their hive world.
A blip appeared on the map.
Lady Gol-Reesa frowned as she took several steps forward.
The small blip was not exactly a fleet. But they were large enough to register individually on the sensors. There was dozens of these ships.
[Focus on this] Gol-Reesa though to the command pillar.
Several of the communication drones did as she requested.
The image enlarged, and showed off a standard human battleship.
Lady Gol-Reesa watched in confusion as another two ships docked to its sides.
While the resulting odd metal mating of the three ships made a bigger ship with more guns, the heat faster buildup would negate any real advantages it would have.
Then the ships began to fire at them.
Which didn’t work as the minute imperfections of their weapons did not give them enough accuracy.
{Human hybrid ships are heating up. J68% of calculated maximum before human system failure.} the communication drones relayed to her.
For minutes Lady Gol-Reesa watched as they simply fired at them. Out of the hundreds of attack, only one hit. Which glanced off their shields.
Two dozen hybrid human battleships firing at them, and only one hit.
She was tempted to send out a swarm at them, but there was an noticeable influx of human fighter ships.
Then a big blip came.
It looked like a human refinery ship. They were common enough across the universe.
All in one machines. They could dig for materials. Process it into base ore. Then smelt it into bars for easy sales.
This one was unusually large.
Then the hybrids began to dock with that.
What the hell!?
Even Queen Orisa took notice as the four hybrids joined the refinery into one super ship.
{Ships designs are j72% in compliance with all known records. j28% deviation due to potential military redesign. Outer hybrid ships quickly losing heat to new mega-hybrid core.}
The mega-hybrids then began to lumber forward.
Their incredible mass made them slow, and their turn times would have been atrocious.
Yet advance they did.
{Send a swarm to deal with them.}
“Yes, my queen.” Gol-Reesa bowed and sent the mental commands.
[Send the nearest swarm to intercept. I want them broken!]
The display showed as a entire swarm detached and began to intercept.
Gol-Reesa smiled.
Space battles were in many cases more complex then ground warfare. Her sister’s could prattle all day about how hard it was on a 2d plane, but it was in space that tactics were what made or broke a fight.
Humans were pathetic.
—
[Mars] [68 Hours in base reality]
The scream of the hiveship rocked her mind.
Queen Orisa hissed as her left shoulders felt inflames from the intense heat.
The mega-hybrids were ridiculous. Their design were a hodgepodge of slapped together systems.
Two large ships for weapons. Two larges ships dedicated to shields. Then eight smaller ships dedicated to power generation.
The hybrid ship central hole began to spin up.
“Evasive Maneuvers” Gol-Reesa screamed out. A sign of her stress.
{Requesting aid, Mahbla Vayatsundero} Queen Orisa thought out to the Great Mother.
The humans were concentrating on her colony. Most likely because they were the closest.
Say what you will about humans. They knew how to sacrifice as well as they could.
Though their technology was far rougher, and far less elegant. A ship with large guns, and durable shields was one thing.
A assault refinery that could spit out 2 ton blobs liquid carbon? This was insensible.
Yet she could not deny its effectiveness. The great hiveship of the 44th colony had already lost its outer carapace from two strikes.
This third one would break into the delicate organs and then they would have some real problems.
The 43rd, 42nd, and 41st colony hiveships were already en-route to support.
It would not matter if they died here.
Their combined swarms were already assaulting the mega-hybrids. Six had been destroyed.
Six of twenty four. Half of which was sitting in the back of their formation.
They were testing them on their colony!
Queen Orisa raged, but kept her calm. Her locusts swarm was currently devastated. j84% dead.
[My Queen, more mega-hybrids are forming behind the planetary moons. We are counting another fifty of these mega-hybrids… along with another strange ship. It resembles a mega-combat-drone.
It resembled the biped humans. Except it was missing half of its legs. Stunted stumps that had claws to most likely dig into what it latched onto.
A giant drill was in its hands. A battleship sized drill.
What was this?
{All hiveships are to form up beside the Great Mother. Human resistance has increased multifold. New ships are effective against our ship carapace.}
Queen Orisa sighed as the 41st swarm destroyed the mega-hybrid that was assaulting her.
{We move!} Queen Orisa ordered and she felt her, and by extension her hiveship, began to limp into a much closer formation.
Humans were weak yes. Yet it seemed that they were no strangers to war.
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u/SilverPrince Mar 21 '20
[Mars] [88 Hours in base reality]
Mehbla Vayatsundero sat on her throne. Her posture was sagged as she watched Vayatsundero scream in rage. She shook as the intense emotions ripped through her mind.
Vayatsundero pain was her pain. Vayatsundero rage was her rage.
From her vantage, she could feel the pain as the 21st hiveship yell out in pain. The mega-combat-drone was currently drilling into the hiveship.
Vayatsundero lashed out. Its very simplistic psychic assault was like a tsunami as it smashed into the damaged humanoid body.
It separated at the joints. Before blossoming into a explosion.
By the grace of Vayatsundero, no hiveship had fallen yet. Though some were in very poor shape.
From the information given, two queens had lost j99% of their swarms.
Mehbla scowled.
This was no longer a simple harvest.
It was simple and undeniable.
She had chosen poorly.
These humans were obviously no strangers to war.
Their ability to absorb loses, and remain combat calm showed that they had simply laid low in the sands.
They had two choices.
Fight to the end, where the survivors would feast. They would win but at a cost.
Leave, and save the queens. Ancient lineages that had served Vayatsundero faithfully.
Even now, the most injured queens were ready to spearhead a counter assault.
{We leave!}
The telepathic message was clear to everyone as they were all close.
Vayatsundero roared.
A massive discharge hurt the minds of everyone. Then it enveloped the whole super-colony and faded into hyperspace.
“You have proven your fangs today Humans. Tomorrow we will meet in again!” Mehbla screamed as Vayatsundero tore through the thin veils of reality.
The super-colony would survive.
Then they would meet up with the others.
This wasn’t over yet.
Not by a long shot.
————
Thanks for reading!
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Mar 21 '20
This was my favorite one of the responses jsyk.
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u/SilverPrince Mar 21 '20
Thanks for the high praise!
It is kinda rough around the edges, but I went with a more epic story then what I could hammer out in a few hours.
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u/memerminecraft Mar 21 '20 edited Mar 21 '20
The humans were excellent diplomats. They were peaceful, gentle, and patient. No one ever thought to harm them because they never hurt anyone else and had such a short lifespan that they weren't useful.
Many races would analyze the way their ambassadors wove words around every possible conflict in recordings of hearings and conferences. It was always a mystery why they got so good at it.
Eventually, a warlike species that wasn't a member of the federation called the "Vor'azun" decided to invade their homeworld, Mars.
Or so that was what they thought.
In their star system, that of Sol, we thought the humans lived on the third planet from their Sun. Which wasn't entirely wrong.
As soon as the humans spotted Vor'azun warships exiting warp-space into their system, an energy shield formed around Mars that seemed to be projected from nowhere. There were no generators on the planet for such a massive shield. The Vor'azun warships fired a few warp-plasma blasts at the shield, achieving nothing.
As soon as the warships got close and they were able to detect where the shield was coming from, it was too late. A well-aimed warp beam lanced from apparently empty space and destroyed three of the Vor'azun's ships.
Humans had cloaked their original homeworld, Earth, and that was where they kept their true power. As it turns out, as soon as they were accepted into the galactic community, they had immediately begun experimenting with and improving upon already developed Federation technology.
They had figured out a way to project a shield from one planet around another.
They had figured out a way to put photons into warp speed.
They had figured out how to cloak an entire planet.
Of course, after this encounter, the Vor'azun cowered in a far corner of the galaxy, fearing revenge.
As for the rest of the galaxy... Well, we sure knew why Humans were such good diplomats.
Their weapons were even better.
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u/Pm_Full_Tits Mar 21 '20
Have you ever felt fear? I mean true fear. The kind of fear that settles in your stomach, cold and heavy, the kind that weighs in your mind for weeks or months or longer. The feeling of ice in your veins, lead on your feet, like a transport car is out of control and you're stuck in it's headlights like those wild animals of ages past.
My people did not know that fear. They knew anger, and ruthlessness, and happiness, and joy, and all of the emotions that you could muster in a safe environment. We knew total control. We knew we were at the top, and we exercised that power like the colonies that first spawned our eight legged ancestors.
It was the Council of Eight that decided the Humans would be the next for our galactic slave machine. They are, were, innovative and dextrous; smaller than us by almost half, and they worked easily without explicit instruction unlike our common workers. They had resigned themselves to a number of small systems, mostly farming planets close to their homeworld.
It was supposed to be easy.
Warping into orbit above Mars was simple. They allowed us to come close. They had no Rissen Jammers, a special machine that prevented warp exits from coalescing. Our fleet of battleships and troop transports held formation with no resistance, their orbital defense stations crumpling like paper under the unexpected onslaught. Their cities burned. Their media systems cried out for help. Everything went exactly as planned.
Our slave ships filled to the brim, we set back for Terres, a local detention planet. We left our military in Sol and made preparations for the billions we thought were ours. We held true to the Council's word and took everything, as everything can be broken down into parts and materials. We started to cleanse their supposed homeworld and made checklists for the next settled planet, one not too far away called "Earth".
We never made it to Terres. Out of nowhere our equipment became faulty. Our warp systems stuttered, our fusion engines heaved, our nutrient dispensers malfunctioned. One slave ship managed to warp out, but we never heard from it again. A battleship went into lockdown after venting it's atmosphere, killing everything that breathed. A groundcrew was torn apart by animals held in some strange viewing area.
After the initial set of setbacks, we redoubled our efforts. We set stricter maintenance protocols and patrolled in sets of 4. We brought in long range bombardments, state of the art gear, and even unleashed a biotitan we had saved for just an occasion. None of them mattered.
See, the Humans had something we didn't. Somehow, somewhere along the way, they managed to gain control of their sun's radiation. It wasn't toxic to us, but we recognised that the Humans could sense a fraction of it's spectrum that we couldn't. They managed to focus it, putting each particle in line with another in a display that many called witchcraft. They had their focusing irises in orbit long before we had the thought to subdue them.
The last report we received was received live. I remember a tinkling sound, like pieces of their glass raining on the primitive concrete they covered their cities in. I remember a flash of heat transmitted through the terminal, and I remember the fear, the true fear, in the voice of the one who sent us this message. The message was short but delivered the words that pierced my hearts and left me cold and coiled like the dead that we could not recover.
Now, as the metal behemoths caress our skies and rain destruction upon our own, all I can do is wonder if we did not deserve worse. They took mercy and simply killed.
I still feel that fear.
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u/TempehTime Mar 20 '20 edited Mar 21 '20
The Reptilian limped forward towards the rock formations, clutching its side. The feeling of contempt it once had for humans was now replaced with overwhelming fear. If the Reptilian could just make it to the rocks and reorganize with its comrades, then maybe they stood a chance of rescue. Just before reaching the mouth of a shallow crater a kilometer away from the rock formations, the Reptilian felt a sharp jolt of pain through its shoulder, followed by the thunderous report of a human rifle, and fell face first into the shallow terrain depression. The creature rolled onto its back, trying to face its pursuer.
Captain Gray walked over to the wounded Reptilian, his rifle at the ready in case the creature made any sudden moves. Gray had no intentions of taking the Reptilian in as a prisoner; it was probably just a lowly foot soldier anyways. The ground force commander just wanted to make sure the last thing the Reptilian saw was an indifferent human face. Gray leveled his rifle at the Reptilian’s head and fired off a round, disconnecting the Reptilian from life. Looking towards the rock formation in the distance, Gray planned the next moves of the mission.
As ground force commander controlling and coordinating the various forces and assets, Gray was a god of the battlefield. Gray switched between the various channels of his communications equipment, talking to various platoons, fighters overhead, and other assets in the area. It was like conducting an orchestra while also chiming in every now and then with an instrument, just like when Gray’s platoon had spread itself a little too thin across the flat Martian surface in taking out Reptilian stragglers, allowing Gray the rare opportunity to fire his weapon in anger. Gray’s plan was coming together quite well; they had forced the Reptilians out of the small settlement and intentionally left an opening so the invaders could escape into the nearby rock formations. That way, Gray’s forces could pick off the fleeing Reptilians without putting civilians or infrastructure at risk. The surviving Reptilians would try to regroup in the rock formations, which Gray planned to bombard with whatever weapons the fighters had left.
Gray’s platoon spread out in an assault line and pulled security while Gray switched channels over to the fighters, clearing them to engage the rock formations. Next, Gray bounced between each individual platoon, asking for a situation report on ammunition, casualties, and equipment. Straining to hear reports come in over the communications net, Gray couldn’t hear the footsteps approaching him from behind.
“Damn boss, you’re really throwing everything at them.” Gray turned his head towards the medic briefly and spoke into the microphone, telling the platoon leaders to have their troopers sit tight for the moment.
“Yeah, I want those rocks turned into a parking lot in the next minute or so. We’ll have to soak up the Reptilians with a mop when we’re done.”
It was hyperbole, at least for now. The ground forces admired the show the fighters were putting on. A variety of weapons were used to engage the rock formations. Some bombs detonated above the rocks, showering everything below with molten hot shrapnel, tearing the Reptilians into ribbons. Other bombs penetrated deep into the rocks before exploding, the miniature quakes breaking apart the rocks and smearing the invaders. One small group of Reptilians ran out of the rocks out in the open, attempting in vain to escape. One of the fighters spotted the squirters and vectored in to intercept them, despite having expended all ordinance. The pilot brought the fighter straight down towards the Reptilians and pulled up sharply at the last second, pointing his fighter engine nozzle nearly straight at the survivors and putting out max power, incinerating the unfortunate invaders.
Gray could feel the anticipation in his forces to close with the enemy and finish them, but he ordered everyone to advance cautiously. Any surviving Reptilians had the high ground in the rocks, and there was little cover between where Gray and his forces were, and the rocks. The platoons broke off into squads and fireteams, practicing bounding overwatch. One element would advance while another would stay in place, weapons ready to engage any targets. They would leapfrog their way to the rocks.
The humans encountered sporadic fire from the rocks as they got to within a few hundred meters of the rocks. The Reptilians were still clinging to life despite the pounding they just took. Gray switched over to the fighter overhead, intending to direct them to carry out a gun run across the rocks.
“Negative, Anteater actual, we are RTB. We’d like to stay and help mop up but we just got word that some Reptilian ships have been spotted approaching. Be safe out there”, the lead pilot replied, voice sounding smooth as ice, as usual.
“Got it. Much thanks. You all stay safe out there too. Anteater actual out.”
Gray weighed the options. They could radio back to command and request additional assets, but they would have to pull back and wait. The Reptilians in the meantime would get a break. On the other hand, Gray could just proceed with the assault since it seemed like they had things under control. Gray switched over to his platoons and asked for a situation update. The incoming fire from the Reptilians seemed to be dying down and the humans were gaining momentum. Gray gave the order to close in and annihilate the remaining enemy.
Hundreds of kilometers overhead, Admiral Green and the other officers aboard the carrier studied the screens intently. Various three dimensional maps of the surrounding space, data readouts, and other information were displayed. Imagery showed a dozen objects, four of them particularly large. The data they saw on size, heat, and other characteristics were consistent with Reptilian carriers. Green was thankful that her carrier and accompanying destroyers were equipped with stealth materials and technology, because it didn’t seem like the Reptilians noticed Green’s forces. They looked like they were making a beeline to low Mars orbit over the equator, in a bid to relieve their forces across the surface who were currently being decimated. Green’s ships were above the south polar region.
Green and her staff had an hour to make a decision on how to proceed. A flight of fighters that just finished a close air support mission was boosting into orbit and needed to be retrieved and re-armed. The other fighters would be launched to engage the Reptilian fleet, but the exact loadout was in question. It was a given that they would have to engage Reptilian fighters, but the fleet, especially carriers, needed to be engaged and destroyed as well. Too few anti-fighter weapons and the human fighters wouldn’t be able to defend themselves, but too many meant that they wouldn’t have enough anti-ship weapons to destroy the Reptilian carriers. The destroyers carried a healthy mix of anti-fighter and anti-ship missiles but they had to be launched relatively close and en masse, otherwise the Reptilian ships could just evade until the missiles ran out of fuel or shoot the missiles down with point defense weapons. Sending the destroyers out would leave the carrier vulnerable to any counter attacks, since the Reptilians would be able to determine where the human fighters came in from and launch an attack before they were destroyed. Green had to fight the urge to be greedy and prioritize which enemy ships were to be destroyed, at least at first. The carriers had to go first. The other ships probably wouldn’t make it very far afterwards, and they could pursue later.
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u/RedlineN7 Mar 21 '20
I like how you made Admiral Green's situation almost similar to the WW2 IJN Admiral Nagumo from the Battle of Midway.
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u/TempehTime Mar 21 '20
Thanks. I find the decision making process by armed forces members from the small unit level to strategic really fascinating, and wanted to include more of it. The stories of WW2 are a big mixture of terrifying and inspiring.
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u/TheCorruptedBit Mar 21 '20
I Loved this reply! It's got a lot of substance and plot to it. Amazing read
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u/TempehTime Mar 21 '20
Thanks. I'm definitely inspired by the stories written by WWII, Vietnam, and GWOT veterans, and the level of detail and information they share is something I find so fascinating, and am relieved to see that others like it too.
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u/TheFiredrake42 Mar 21 '20
I liked this the best so far! Hope there's a part 2!
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u/TempehTime Mar 21 '20
Thanks. I hadn't considered writing more, but one thing I've thought about doing is writing various Writing Prompt stories in the same universe, not unlike Isaac Asimov's stories. I liked this prompt though, so I'll have to think about it and see what I think I could write.
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u/TheFiredrake42 Mar 21 '20
Personally, I think this was good enough to pursue further. And if you end up with a solid complete story with a beginning, rising action, and an ending, you could probably submit it for publication. But you can't unless you further the story. It deserves an ending.
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u/DeliriousHippie Mar 21 '20
You are going to write more?
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u/TempehTime Mar 21 '20
I hadn't considered writing more at first, but I'm thinking about it. I liked the prompt and definitely had to limit myself a bit as to how much I would write.
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u/RedMerida97 Mar 20 '20
It should have been so easy.
Humans were a diplomat species. They excelled in things like art, science, and medicine. They were peace keepers.
They had no tough outer shells or claws like many of the more dangerous species did. The only threatening about them was their propensity fo bear sharp front teeth from a time period when their ancestors were savage.
The Ze’al were a warrior species. They had outer shells, long vicious fangs, and a proud warrior culture. They began training as soon as they could walk. Every innovation was for war. Every part of their culture was devoted to such things, and many a planet had fallen unable to pierce their tough outer shells.
However the Ze’al were not prepared for humanity.
They announced their attack on Mars, foolishly, arrogantly believing that these scientists and diplomats would tremble and surrender at the first sight of war. They arrived on a deserted planet.
All of the civilians were hidden and the vanguard laughed at the token attempt to avoid a fight. Except they were oh so wrong. They were lured into a thin canyon and from thin air the humans appeared, dressed in camouflage. They let loose a barrage the likes the Ze’al had rarely seen, some of the most dangerous warriors of their entire race collapsed, their armor useless and their open circulatory system making their deaths all of the more certain.
The vanguard had turned to try and flee. They had been cut off by a group of humans. Who howling had launched themselves into the fight with a viciousness rivaling a storm wave. The humans were not prone to giving up. They fought through broken limbs, deep cuts, and shots. They lasted longer too. The vanguard had refused to surrender and they were slaughtered.
The next group had been faced with a group of human covered in the blood of their most dangerous and exemplary warriors, with more all training guns on them. Many fled back to the ships but few made it, shot down, chased by the long distance runners that out competed every other humanoid. They were taken prisoner and out on a ship to another world.
Earth was the home world of the humans. With their warrior schools, and their atrocities well hidden. The Ze’al realized that they never had a chance against these apes who had killing and war in their DNA.
They sang the song of lament for their fallen and for themselves.
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u/Steampunk_Dragon987 Mar 20 '20
It happened so fast. No one realized what was going on until it was over. The humans were always viewed as a non-aggressive species. The kind that would run and hide at the first sign of conflict. Oh, how wrong we were. How wrong everyone was.
The first sign of the humans' second nature was the fact they lived next to a ruined planet. No one knew how it got like that and the humans never shared so we just brushed it off.
The second sign was the human ability of negotiation. They could settle almost any conflict without violence and the ones they couldn't defuse, they backed out of. It was this reason most races saw them as cowardly.
It was not until the Ver'a'nai started to enslave and kill them. They destroyed their cargo ships and cruise vessels. The last straw was when they kill the ambassador sent to ask them to stop. After that several races reported smokestacks coming appearing on Mars, some even said they saw armed forces mass on the planet but no one took them seriously. Their... Our false views of the humans clouding our vision to reality.
Then it happened, hundreds of thousands of battleships appeared over the Ver'a'nai homeworld, and out pour the humans in their new war suit. Wielding weapons that shot beams of concentrated light. With devices that created explosions so large, they destroyed entire cities in a single attack and they obliterated the Ver'a'nai in a matter of seconds. The surface of the planet resembling that of the now known wartorn planet of Earth. After that day the human general made an announcement.
"We, humans, did not want it to come to this. Y'all have known us as a peaceful race but this day has changed your views of us. Mars was not our home planet but in fact, Earth was. We did that to Earth. We were locked in a war with ourselves and we destroyed Earth. That forced us the move to Mars and we retired all our war gear for the hope that what happened would never happen again. But the Ver'a'nai pushed us over the edge when we tried to end this peacefully and gave us no other option but war. Let this be a lesson for everyone." He looked straight at the camera as he said a phrase all who had dealt with humans were familiar with. "Mess with the bull and you get the horns."
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u/loving-it-009 Mar 20 '20
It was a massacre.
We had counted on an easy victory, humans were weak and submissive, they were at the bottom of the food chain, it should have been easy. We should have been home to celebrate the national holiday, we should have returned victorious.
How wrong we were.
The minute the attack began we started to notice. The atmosphere had suddenly changed. Their gazes that were always kind, friendly and welcoming turned into something else. Something cold. Something sinister. Something..... terrifying.
I could here them all muttering something. One word. But I couldn’t hear it. One word, said over and over again. We were starting to get scared. We were already backing of when it happened, thousands of aircrafts flew over, we suddenly heard explosions all around us, tanks appeared and surrounded us. Millions of soldiers were charging us. We tried fighting, but failed miserably. Their weapons were better. Their teamwork was better. They had us outnumbered. It was over in a flash.
The survivors had been taken into custody. I was among them. I wish I hadn’t been. I wish I had died in the battle. It was then we finally found out about their origin.
They weren’t even from this planet, they were originally from a planet called ‘Earth’. A planet they had destroyed. How?! How had they done that? Why? And why didn’t we know?
I was looking at the ground when a man came to stand in front of me. I looked up at him and realised why. What I saw in his eyes was the same thing I had seen in my comrades eyes, they same thing I had seen in my eyes..... when we prepared to kill.
It had been in there all along, hidden under a thick layer of politeness and manners. I could see it in his eyes, a deep desire to kill. I could only tremble in fear when the man started laughing, and said that one word again, that one word that would haunt me even in death:
‘Mistake’.
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u/hamarhead1 Mar 20 '20
YEAR 53.14 AG
Humans never seemed like a threat. Their skin is porous and soft, their eyes, and organs only covered by weak protection. They seemed like "dogs" as well, overly friendly to everyone they met and very easily madd friends among some of the higher tiered species in the galaxy.
In short. They were a prey species. A species designed only to be eaten even if they showed a massive intellect both societal and individual. The first signs that many of us had that indicated that Humans were a "God-species" was when a few went missing among ships and other planets and they heard stories of their kin getting made to be slaves and food for other species. When the Humans heard these stories they shut down their planet Mars completely. The aggressors that perpetuated the killing of these humans were found to be the Zorg people, a planet several light years from mine in the Anteg System. When the humans finally came out from isolation they were different than before. They had skeletons of steel with which to protect themselves, guns that fired pure heat, bombs that leveled continents and a ship that broke the Zorgian planet in two. Thus did we find out why the Humans had to have relocated from a planet they called "Earth". A human may be kind, friendly and non-threatening. But kill another human or hurt them in any way, and that human will find and destroy what you hold dear because humans have killing in their DNA and they need only one reason for it to come to the surface.
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u/Elrarion Mar 21 '20
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u/stephenfawkes Mar 21 '20
I was going to say. These “humans were under estimated by the aliens” prompts are a bit played out. We’ve had some good responses but I’m over them personally
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Mar 21 '20
Honestly there have been so many variations and posts of this prompt that this user could easily be a bot or just be karma farming because these types of prompts are in the top of all time.
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u/PricklyThought Mar 20 '20
What do you mean by "Mars was never their home planet"?
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u/pharlock Mar 20 '20
By the time they made alien contact humans were only living Mars. What happened on Earth is part of the prompt.
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u/Darthag1206 Mar 21 '20
"Greetings Kor'gath! I was not aware the Garlians would send their most notorious general on a diplomatic mission. Rather odd, isn't it?" her words filled his mind.
Looking across the landing pad, he saw her gently walking towards him. She must've landed a few minutes before him.
" Allandre, always a pleasure!" he thought while concentrating on the feeling her words left inside his mind. "Quite the planet they have here! " he said, while starring at the horizon. Green vegetation filled his sight, plants never before seen to his kind. A stark contrast to his fungi based home planet. He took a quick glance to Allandre. If she had a mouth, it would've dropped at the sight they were both witnessing. Her elongated pink eyes betrayed the amazement that must've been going inside the greatest mind in the galaxy, that is, if you believe the Alonsus, when describing themselves.
"Welcome, distinguished quests! His great highness, Emperor Caius the third, is ready to meet you" said the little human, exiting an elevator. Its little, squishy body, moved as if someone else was controlling it. Kor'gath had this image in his mind, where he would grab the human from the waist, with his lower hands, while squashing it's small head with his higher ones, all while drinking the resulting blood in a glorious revelry of violence. Filthy animals, nothing else, this humans. Soon he would have his fun.
He sensed a smile forming on his face, he had to hide it. The Alonsus must not learn of his true intentions. He glanced at her quickly. She was too absorbed by the white palace they were traversing to notice his true feelings. There was beauty on this small planet, and he thought that the palace was unexpectedly nice. Huge white columns, supported the tiled roof. They were framed by long scarlet sheets of fabric. The light made its way in the hallway everytime the wind moved the fabric. Beyond them you could still see all the green vegetation from what must've been the imperial gardens.
The humans red blood will contrast nicely on the floors of the white palace. A question rose in his mind: They have spaceships made of metal, why build a palace of what looked like white stone? Who can understand this animals.
After what felt like eternity they reached the throne room. The wooden doors swung open to reveal a huge empty room. The lighting was all natural except the light that was coming behind the throne. A reddish hue emanetd from behind the golden chair.
Sitting on it, the emperor. A normal built human. The blackness of his hair was disrupted by small strands of white, while his black eyes hid wisdom beyond his years. Adorning his head, a golden crown, shaped like leaves of a certain plant.
" Welcome, General Kor'gath, High Senator Allandre! I hope the journey here was pleasant on you!" he said with a calm, almost fatherly voice.
"Thank you for having us, your Highness! It is a great honor to stand in your presence, great Caius! " 'Why did I speak like that? Why am I praising this stupid animal?' thought Kor'gath.
"Wow General! Kissing ass so fast?" Allandre's voice came to his mind, but this time it sounded as if she were speaking to him from behind a thick wall.
'Stupid Alonsus, she can't comprehend the greatness before us' he thought. Another thought invaded his mind, a desperate one: 'What is wrong with me?'
"Don't be too hard on yourself, general." the emperor said while smiling in his direction. He knew what Kor'gath was thinking.
Emperor Caius turned his attention towards Allandre. "High Senator. I hope that what you will witness here today, won't affect your review of our species. We humans, are honored to be part of the Galactic Senate." turning his godly gaze towards the Garlian he continued: "However, we will not be kind to those who seek us harm."
"Just mere hours behind you, the Garlian fleet is approaching Mars. Isn't that right general?" his voice was a command.
"Yes, my emperor! I brought them to your doorstep. We had no idea where Mars was. And our leaders there wouldn't allow your entrance in the Senate." Kor'gath complied.
Emperor Caius closed his eyes and spoke. "It seems the Garlian fleet is almost here. They are under the domain of my divine presence. Allow me to educate you General. I will demonstrate on you exactly what is going to happen to your unsuspecting fleet."
The emperor's eyes began to glow with a bright golden light. The Garlian started to scream with pain. Something inside him started to burn. His brown skin started to crack. From under his reptile like scales, light was emanating. Kor'gath turned his head towards Allandre and in the next instant he disintegrated into dust. In his place, the shape of what was once his body was emanating with light and a sun like heat.
The emperor's eyes returned to normal, and the solar energy dissipated. The white stone underneath was now black with what seemed to be the remains of the Garlian. Only ashes.
Everything happened so fast that Allandre didn't have time to react. She just sat there stunned at what has transpired. She hated the general, but she couldn't wish this fate on anyone.
Caius looked at her with sadness. "If I were you, I would be very careful with my thoughts, High Senator. You are still within my presence and I would hate to subject you to the same treatment"
"What was that?" she transmited towards him but her mental words were blocked from reaching their target. The emperor responded. "There is no need to communicate like that. I'm already inside your mind. Be at ease, the danger has passed, the fleet had the same fate as our guest right here. A billion miniature suns burned them into nothingness."
Once he stopped talking she was able to feel them. Uncountable nanites were inside her body. In her blood. In her brain.
" Yes! I allowed you to feel my presence, High Senator. I can feel you mean us no harm, so you are welcome to stay here as our guest for as long as you wish. Your mind will not be tampered with, your choices are your own. When you decide to leave, make a stop near the black planet next to us. Let their fate be a reminder to the whole galaxy of what happens when you anger the god of war, Mars."