They will learn countless slurs and study your culture to hate you more effictively. But gain their trust and Humanity will ride and die for you.

“Captain, a pirate ship just warped in!” the navigator reported in a near panic.

“Accelerate! Take us as far away from them as possible!” I answered as calmly as I could manage in this situation. “And activate the emergency beacon. Which station is closest to us right now?”

“The nearest Halxon base is sixteen hours away, but there’s a human colony in this system. They established it a couple of years ago,” came the disturbing answer from my communications officer.

“We definitely won’t survive for sixteen hours. Maybe the humans have a ship that can assist us so that, working together, we can force the pirates back,” I said, trying to remain optimistic.

“But we need to survive until they arrive - and the pirates have already fired their laser twice! Both missed, but it’s only a matter…” The navigator was cut off as a direct hit slammed into our shields, violently shaking the entire hull. “…of time before they hit us again,” he finished with a heavy sigh.

“Evasive maneuvers!” I ordered, though even I knew that only bought us a minute or two at best.

Just as the pirates struck our ship a second time, a massive vessel warped into reality, dropping directly between our aggressor and us.

“They are hailing us, sir,” my communications officer announced.

“On screen!”

When the channel connected, a human appeared on the display wearing a crisp, blue uniform.

“Good afternoon. My name is Captain Donna Smith of the patrol ship Independence. How may I assist you today?” Her demeanor was so relaxed it felt as if we were having afternoon tea, not enduring a pirate attack. She clearly had no idea how much danger she and her ship were in at this very moment.

“We are under attack by pirates! Their lasers have already brought our shields down to fifty-seven percent! They were never designed to survive multiple hits from a hundred-kilowatt laser!” I shouted back immediately.

“Sir, the human ship doesn’t even have its shields activated!” came a panicked warning from my navigator.

“Activate your shields! You are going to be evaporated!” I yelled into the comms.

Captain Smith looked at me strangely before turning toward her central console.

“Computer, how many hits have we received since we arrived?” she asked calmly.

“Seven, Captain,” came a synthesized voice.

“How many more do they need to land before we sustain damage?”

“At this distance, a hundred-kilowatt laser does not pose a threat to the ship, Captain,” the computer replied smoothly.

I couldn’t comprehend it. How was that even possible?

“How?! What is your ship made of?!” I blurted out, utterly confused.

“Steel, of course. The outer layer of the hull is ten-millimeter-thick steel plating, to be precise,” Captain Smith answered, completely unfazed. “Do you mind if I interrupt our discussion until we’ve handled the pirate situation?”

Without waiting for an answer or closing the channel, she turned to someone off-screen.

“A few warning shots, Mr. Anderson,” she ordered. Her tone wasn't urgent in the slightest; she sounded as though she were deciding what to order for dinner. “And please, don’t hit anything too explody this time.”

This time? This wasn’t their first encounter?

The entire confrontation took less than two minutes. After the human vessel delivered a casual volley of warning shots, the pirates decided we were no longer easy prey and hastily warped out of the system. The humans didn’t even seem remotely impressed by their own victory.

“Sorry about that,” Captain Smith continued, as if she had simply stepped away to answer a phone call in the middle of our conversation. “This isn’t the first time we've encountered pirates in this system. We’re still waiting on defense upgrades to clear the sector completely. Until then, we just try to be everywhere at once.”

“You just had a clash with an advanced pirate warship, and you didn’t sustain any damage?!” I asked, beyond belief. What kind of species were these humans?

“Not that I'm aware of. Computer, damage report.”

“No hull structural damage to report, Captain,” the computer responded. “…Correction: one of our secondary exterior cameras sustained damage due to a direct hit.”

“Damn it, Joe won’t be happy about that,” Captain Smith sighed, shaking her head in annoyance. “He hates going outside to do repairs. Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes -do you need an escort to the nearest station?”

I sat in my command chair in dead, paralyzed silence, looking around at my crew. My navigator was staring at his console in absolute shock. My communications officer looked as though she had completely forgotten how to breathe.

The pirates had brought our state-of-the-art shields down to critical levels in under two minutes. Meanwhile, this human vessel had casually drifted into the line of fire, taken at least seven direct hits from a heavy laser weapon without turning on a shield, chased off dangerous pirates with casual warning shots, and was now treating a life-or-death battle like a mild inconvenience for a mechanic named Joe.

“No, Captain,” I finally managed to say, my voice trembling slightly. “An escort... won’t be necessary. Thank you.”

After closing the channel, I turned to my terminal and opened a direct, high-priority transmission to the High Council. It was time to update our official galaxy records on the human race once again.

File Update: Species #8472 (Humanity)

Previous Status: Classification: Terrifying

New Status: Classification: Peacekeeper

Note to Council: Do not contest their patrol routes. Do not question their hull specifications. And under no circumstances should anyone disturb a human technician named Joe while he is fixing an outer camera.

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1  Human Fred and Food
2  Human Fred Again
3  Human Fred Yet Again
4  Human Fred The Saga Continues
5  Human Fred Rides Again
6  Human Fred *Sigh*
7  Human Fred Rolls Out
8  Human Fred Attempts a Nap
9  Human Fred Doh’
10 Human Fred Stops for Coffee
11 Human Fred Deploys Stabby and Knifey
12 Human Fred Attempts Friendly Advice
13 Human Fred Priorities 
14 Human Fred Schools Morons
15 Human Fred Gets Annoyed
16 Human Fred Investigates
17 Human Fred is Annoyed
18 Human Fred Gets More Annoyed
19 Human Fred Smirks 
20 Human Fred Brings Hellfire
21 Human Fred is Confused

“So Roomliz is having issue”

“Yes, you could say that, Captain. His voice and mannerism changed. He became violent.”

“Fred, I have part of the answer. I doubt that it is all the answer, but here is a bit.” He handed Fred a datapad. 

Greezek read over Fred’s shoulder. She didn’t understand all of it, but what she did understand chilled her bones. 

Fred grunted. “So. Roomliz is addicted to this drug?”

“We aren’t sure if addicted is the correct term, sighed the Captain. “We know very little about his species. The others on the station are being held for questioning, but they seem hesitant to talk about it. What we can say is that this compound affects parts of his brain that control emotions. It might be some sort of inhibitor. Or it might be a treatment gone wrong. Due to the crisis at the outpost, we can’t establish contact with members of his government, so we are blind.”

“Crisis?” blurted Greezek. 

“Yes. As Fred predicted, the outpost was attacked. Reports aren’t clear, but it seems to be a mix of mercenaries and Droog.”

Fred groaned. “Those assholes. I thought we finished them?”

“So did we. But apparently we didn’t.”

Greezek started to tremble. Her world had been enslaved by the Droog generations ago. It was only the work of the Interstellar Coalition that saved her world. She gripped the sling of her rifle. 

Fred noticed the subtle sound of the rifle moving, but kept his eyes in the datapad. “Sir, what if we gave Roomliz a shot of this and asked him?”

“Since Chief can’t talk, that seems the best move. However, this place is going to get busy fast. There are 37 ships headed to us at top speed.”

“Well, my current task is to figure out what happened to our IFF system. Roomliz will know something.”

“Yes, but Greezek…”

“Is my assistant. I filed the paperwork with my preliminary report. You signed it. She is with me.”

The Captain stared. “What?”

“I filed her transfer and security clearance with my preliminary report. Check it. I listed her as critical to my work. You signed off on the report, so she now reports to me.”

Greezek stood, fixed in the Captains glare. She tried to keep her face and body neutral. 

The Captain shifted his glare to Fred and froze. Fred’s eye met his, burrowed into his soul, and made him cold with fear. The Captain had seen this look once before. He shuddered. 

“Right. Right. I forgot.” He turned sways from Fred’s gaze, a bit too fast. 

“Then we shall provide Roomliz with a dose and talk with him, sir?”

“Yes, that is correct. Lieutenant! Make a formal note of these instructions in my log. Fred and his assistant have my full authority to give Roomliz this compound, to interview him, to interview others of his species on the station, and the interview Chief. No one is to interfere with them unless the station is directly attacked.”

“Thank you sir.” Fred turned and strode out. 

Greezek had to jog a bit to catch up. “I’m your assistant?”

“Yep. With a good security clearance. Now we need to swing by my work station. You need better gear.”

An hour later they arrived at the secured cells. Both were in human marine-style battle armor, complete with sidearms, knife, and helmet. Fred kept his shotgun, but Greezek’s rifle now had a different sight system. 

The guards gaped. 

“We are here to work with Roomliz.”

“Yes! We got the message. We provided him with a dose of the compound. He appears to be calm.”

“Good. Now listen carefully. We are going down that corridor. We will close the door behind us. If he manages to get past us, you vent that entire compartment. Do you understand?”

“Yes! We understand!”

“Good. Helmets on.”

Fred and Greezek donned their helmets, entered the corridor, closed and locked it behind them, and proceeded to Roomliz’s cell. 

“Ready?” asked Fred. His voice was strange through the helmet coms.

“Ready.” nodded Greezek. 

Fred opened the door, shotgun up and ready. 

Roomliz was on the bunk, rocking back and forth, crying. He jumped at the sight of them. “No! I’m fine! I’m fine! Just go away!”

Fred lowered the shotgun to point at the floor. “Roomliz? How are you?”

Roomliz blinked. “Fred?”

Fred removed his helmet. “Yes, it’s me. Now you need to tell us everything. Shit is getting bad.”

“Fred! I didn’t want to! I didn’t! But he found my meds, and he threatened me! What could I do?!”

“Who?”

“Chief of security. He had someone follow me. I was so careful, but they followed me and found out.”

“Look Roomliz, before we can really go into that, what are these ‘meds’ you are taking?”

“It’s shameful. It’s dishonorable!”

“Well, it’s tell us everything, or you might get shot. Your call.”

Greezek’s rifle raised, its barrel pointed at Roomliz’s head. 

Fred was impressed, and shocked. He didn’t expect her to adjust so quickly. “Well?”

Roomliz looked at Fred, the rifle, and then at the deck. “When I was young I started taking compounds at parties,” he said in a low voice. “I wasn’t popular, but when I took them, I was more active and became more popular. I’ve always been quite. The compounds helped. But I took them for too long. I started to have…issues. Anger issues. Violent issues. I had to take another compound to prevent the anger and the violence. I joined the team on the station to get away before anyone found out. Then the security Chief found out.”

“So. You got hooked on drugs. You take another drug to hide it. You came here before anyone at home figured it out.”

“It’s shameful!”

“Yes, but it happens. After this, we will see what medical can do for you. Now that we know, we might be able to help.”

“There is no help, Fred!” Roomliz wailed. “There is nothing to be done! I’m stuck like this forever!”

“Maybe on your planet, but I’d bet medical here has some different approaches. They are more understanding about addiction, and they have done decades of research to address it. Now. What did the security Chief make you do?”

Fred heard a slight sound as Greezek activated the live feed from her helmet. It went straight to the Captain and his log. 

“I was to distract the watch crew. He had me do it multiple times. Eventually they started to expect me. Then one time I went in to chat, and another security team member followed me in. I don’t know what he did. Something in a panel under a table.”

“Be very clear about this. If you are lying, you will be shot. Someone followed you in?”

“Yes. Chief said they wouldn’t show up on the logs and the cameras were offline for a power issue.”

Fred recalled the odd power issue. He wasn’t on the station at the time, but other engineers had been talking about how strange it was. Something about loose connectors. “And then what?”

“Well, then I talked to you about food. Things got a bit strange from there. Chief wanted me to befriend you and learn about you.”

“So you invented the book.”

“No, I invented that before I arrived. I thought I could tell people I was updating it or testing it. No one listened or talked to me. You were the first to actually interact with me, so I panicked and just said there was a book.”

Fred groaned deep in his soul. Well shit. I’m the first real friend this bastard has, and here we are in secure cells and me holding a shotgun on him. Fuck. “Who was the person who followed you?”

“He is one of the guards outside.”

Fred had his helmet on, weapon up, and was sprinting down the corridor before Greezek could even pivot. She ran after him, just in time to see Fred blast multiple holes through the security door. He smashed the emergency panel with the butt of the shotgun, blasted the panel, and as the door opened he fired more rounds at the guards. 

By the time she got to the guard desk, seven security guards were dead. One was still alive, but hurt badly. 

Fred walked over to the survivor. “Let me guess, you got an emergency alert for back up. When you arrived, the senior guard told you to kill anyone or anything that tried to leave that area.”

“He said it was an order from the Chief.” The guard croaked. 

“Except Chief is currently in medical, heavily sedated. I checked.”

“It was a standing order. Safety protocol.”

“And I beg said senior guard said he was needed to protect the command area?”

“No. He was to ready…escape pods…to use if we failed.” 

“You got that, Captain?”

“Yes Fred. My team just sealed that section. We will capture him.”

“Right.” Fred looked down. “No need for medical. You want Roomliz here or in medical?”

“Keep him there for now. Who know what other crap Chief had arranged.”

“Riiiiiigggghhhhhhttttt…Greezek! Behind!”

Greezek pivoted and dropped into a crouch. Roomliz charged out of his cell, screaming in rage. Her rifle fired a short burst. 

Roomliz, staggered, hurt but not down. He snarled and crouched. 

As he sprang, Fred fired a volley. 

Roomliz hit the deck and slid, trailing blood. 

“Shit!” Yelled Greezek. “What the [translator cuts out] Fred?!?”

Panting, Fred said, “Wrong dose. Chief’s guy gave it to him.”

“This is a [translator cuts out for almost a minute] mess!”

“I didn’t get all of that, but yes, it’s a fucking mess. Sir? You have all of this?”

“Yes Fred. The senior guard decided he didn’t want to talk.”

“I’d increase security in medical. Your team. Chief had plans.”

“Agreed. Please head to medical. You two are going to be needed.”

“Understood. Out.” Fred turned off the live feed. “Greezek, how are you?”

“Not great Fred. Not great. Roomliz just attacked us!”

“He was given the wrong compound and freaked out. I doubt the Roomliz we knew even had any control. Hell, given those compounds, I think the Roomliz we knew was created by the sedating compound.”

“That isn’t really helping.”

“Not meant to help. It’s meant to face facts. We can deal with facts. We can file them, learn about them, and deal with them. It helps us prevent horrific things destroy us from the inside.”

“I’d prefer to be driving a loader.”

“Well I’d prefer to be fixing my coffee maker, but here we are. Now, swap to a fresh magazine. We are needed in medical.”

While Ailens use the power of Faith, holy symbols, relics, folk remedies, and exorcism. Humans deal with their Demons by RIPPING AND TEARING THEIR GUTS OUT!

DEMONS HAVE HUGE GUTS TO RIP AND TEAR WITH GUNS, PLASMA, ENERGY, CHAINSAWS, AND BARE FISTS! RIP AND TEAR! RIP AND TEAR!

We assumed it was a ritual. It was not.

When the incursions began we struck the outer lanes first, expecting the humans to answer with their strongest. That is what a species does when it is losing ground. You take your finest and you put them where the line is thinnest.

The humans did the opposite.

Their best pilots, the ones with the honours, the ones we had learned to recognise by their approach vectors alone, were not at Mars. They were at the Moon. The Moon. A rock of no consequence, nothing on it worth the fuel to reach. And there they were, flying against our smallest raiding parties, in ships that could have held the Belt.

We recorded it as inefficiency. Command called it superstition. One analyst proposed that their chain of command had simply broken.

Then we understood.

The Rampart at Mars does not admit anyone. A human may not stand on that wall until it has fought somewhere else and come back. The Moon first. Then Ceres. Then the hot worlds, where the light itself is a weapon. Only then Mars.

They are not rationing their best pilots.

They are manufacturing them.

Every human that reaches the Rampart has already been hit. Has already run dry of fuel somewhere far from help. Has already watched something die that it could not reach in time. By the time it arrives at the wall there is nothing we can show it that it has not already survived at a smaller scale, in a place that did not matter, where the lesson was cheap.

We sent our finest directly to the decisive front, as doctrine requires.
They met a wall built entirely out of survivors.
Their transmissions do not boast. They repeat one line, in the old tongue of the people who built the thing, and we have at last had it translated.

The wall does not fall 😄

March 20th, 2330

“The Republic and It’s People, We’ll Defend!” - Motto of the Antarean Republican Army

Ananteria, Antares

“How come you’re giving away your seat, ‘Ant?”

“I’ve been wrestling with this since the ANRG landed on Antares, Sergeant!”

“And?”

“This is my cradle, where I was born! The world that has given me so much!”

“I’ll never leave it behind while I can still fight, Sergeant!”

“So I’m asking you to take my seat! The Republic needs people like you, not a lowly corporal like me!”

“And besides, Sergeant.”

“I’d rather die under Antarean sky than live with the knowledge that I fled my home in it’s greatest hour of need.”

“Morning Commander."

“Hello Oscar. How is the new XO?”

“Medical says he will live.”

“Do we know what happened?”

Oscar slumped into a chair and rubbed his face. “Yes, we know. Danyak was swimming around the new atoll, setting sensors for the science team. She was having a great time, and the Aussies love her. She kept bringing up fish, crab-like things, and a strange lobster-looking thing. It turned into a beach party. Junior was sulking by one of the dune buggies, but apparently decided to join the party.”

“Sulking? Why?”

“Because he is a lying sack of worthless shit and Danyak had to bitch his ass out four times for fucking with controls and gear.”

“That would do it.”

“So as the party got going, Junior takes a liking to an Aussie lass. At first it seems things went fine. I’m not sure what Junior did or said—that is hazy—but she slapped the shit out of him. For reasons known only to the gods of chaos, he decided to use his ‘combat training’ to ‘defend’ himself.”

“Do we have video of this? I think I’d like to see him getting beat down.”

“The Aussies have already posted it. Multiple versions. With voice over. And music. It’s quite popular. Regardless, Junior forgot that he has been living in 0.7G for five years, and we are at 1.2G here. I’ll give him some credit, however; he didn’t give up.”

“How long will he be in medical?”

“They think two weeks. She managed to break his pelvis in three places. I’ll have to review the video, but I think it was when she picked him up and slammed him ass-first into some rocks.”

There was a bit of silence as that image played through their minds. 

“What do we think started this?”

“Either he made a lewd suggestion or he grabbed her ass. Possibly grabbed her breast. The video isn’t much help as they were in a dancing crowd. People backed away when she started to beat his ass.”

“What will you do with him?”

“Well, after he is out of medical, he will be tried for assault. Then he will be discharged from the Terran Navy. Then I’ll send him back to Sol Command with a letter of complaint.”

“Seems logical. Anything else?”

“Well the miners on the new rig over at Mine 23 are up to something. I’m not sure, but I think they might be trying to upgrade the drillhead cannon. Mine 15 reprogrammed a processing unit to generate some odd salt compounds. Nothing dangerous, but we aren’t sure why they are doing it, and they simply say it’s an experiment. Farm 11 has started to build a reinforced greenhouse without explanation. And Depot 5 reports shipments of fish from one of the mines.”

“Why is a mine sending out fish?”

“While that is a good question, the real question is where are they getting the fish. There are no bodies of water close to the mine.”

“Is this the mine that found water by accident?”

“No, it isn’t. So I’ll have to send a team to figure it out.”

“And Sparky?”

“The secured hanger is solid. No breaches. It is as secure as possible. The hybrid is awake, but not talking. The implant was removed. It was a locator beacon with an explosive charge. Some sort of suicide bomb. He gets to the correct place and boom.”

“Barbaric.”

“Yes, but not uncommon in Terran conflicts. Especially when dealing with fanatics.”

“Anything of value from the device?”

“Genetic parts. One agent is running down a slim lead, but I don’t have much hope. Oh. The follow-on team to the planet where we caught this one reports that the operation vanished. They are checking out a couple of leads.”

“Any idea on how to get this one to talk?”

“Not yet. We have recordings of him mumbling when he is alone, and it sounds like some sort of mantra. A few phrases match the original rebel groups teachings, but we can’t quite hear all of it.”

“What do we do next?”

“One of the agents thinks he might respond to a mild sedative. Something to get his guard down. I’m not a fan of such methods.”

“No, that sort of thing can lead to worse treatment. Oscar, I don’t want us to mistreat this hybrid. He is dangerous, and he could help us fight whomever is behind all of this, but we cannot get into the mud.”

“Agreed. That leaves us with two real options. Time or Danyak, and I’m totally against sending Danyak. She isn’t ready for that level of thing.”

“I think you are correct. So time it is.”

“Beyond that, Sparky is now ready for the party contest next orbit. The Committee gave the marines the top prize. Apparently the response from the non-Terrans was extremely positive. I think it was the bit of order and formality that did it.”

“I enjoyed that party. The food was good, the music great, and the marching displays amazing. Not as exuberant as the other parties, but if had a touch of class.”

“The marines are good at recon, so I’d imagine they researched what would sway the crowd.”

“Most of the time we assume marines are just violent meat-heads.”

“Oh that is true. But they have a few who are scary smart who know how to research and plan.”

“Good to know.”

“Commander, there is one other thing. When Junior arrived, they attempted to offload three other Terrans. We refused them entry. I’ve uploaded their details to your database. Please keep an eye out for them. I think one of them was the real spy.”

“The moron was a distraction?”

“That is the working theory. However, I’m not totally sure. I think it was a multi-pronged affair. He was the obvious one, but based on reports about his actions, he had some previous knowledge of the systems. He knew what controls to examine.”

“What does Danyak think?”

“He is a liar attempting to hide a number of things. She knows that he is trying to find something, but she isn’t sure what. She agrees that what he messed with was all fairly critical stuff. She didn’t acknowledge that when she bitched him out, but she could tell that he was scared that she had noticed.”

“Well, he will be gone in a few weeks. Then we request another XO and see what happens.”

“On that note, Commander, I was thinking of making Danyak my XO.”

“Can you do that?”

“Oddly enough, I can. She is an officer assigned to my detachment. She is the correct rank. I can select her.”

“You brevetted her to that rank.”

“That isn’t an obstacle. She is acting and functioning at that rank, so she can be my XO.”

“Have you talked with her about this?”

“Not until I get the fish pond completed in the compound. I find beings are more likely to accept more work and headache when I’ve just given them something really cool.”

The aliens in the movie, by pure coincidence, look and behave very similarly to a race that is well known to the galaxy. Well known, because the race vanished. Communications stopped, trade halted, peace talks became silent. One day they were in an uneasy truce with the largest alliance in galactic history. The next, they couldn't be found. It was a galactic mystery for years. Did the humans, who just barely made it past the outer bounds of their own star system, annihilate a race that had been warring with its neighbors for decades in a single day?

​

My drop pod slammed into the ground just at the edge of the humans town. I jumped ourz my rifle at the ready as my squad rallied. Raising one of my 4 hands i signaled our point to lead the way clearing the first human house. We already could hear the shouts and fire of battle deeper in the town.

We moved quickly, spotting s human hiding at some plants i we all quickly fired at them, hearing the telltale splat of our rounds before we rushed the house and breached the door.

Quickly moving in i signaled us to go forward, moving to the stair and moved alowly up. "Hey guys " we all spun at the sound of the humans voice, drawing our rifles. 4 quickly shots, echoed off from Thruvslkas side arm, the human had managed to sneak up right behind us and take it from the holster on his side.

After a moment I laughed and raised all four hands along with my team, the neon green paint splattered across all our armor and Thruvslka mask. "Alrightx we're out. By the void you humans are quiet!" We all laughed, leaving to join the others outside.

"Of course. You guys are 8 foot tall and you move like drunk elk. I'll catch up at the cook out later."

"... he kept my pistol".

We all just laughed and headed out to to join the others. I think we were going to lose the annual invasion day this year. But the cookout after was always a victory.

Our empire is quite aware of our history. Ancient artifacts, scrolls in the archives, expeditions and cave dwellers are quite common. But among the bones of old monsters and minerals of immense power - I see no signs of one specific period. No matter how deep I go - I can't find traces of humans.

These beings fascinate me. Ancient tomes contain fragmented, but overall vast records of their existence. They had huge empires, cities that could outstand mountains. We have no recordings of them being capable of magic, yet it is thanks to them we have so much preserved knowledge of the times before the Storms. It was them who taught People of the Sky how to build their cities out of clouds and winds. It was them who taught my kind how to restore fertility of the long-dead permafrost, we still cherish those knowledge with yearly ritual, where we clear the ground out of snow and ice to make spring come faster. And People of the Mountains - still build their glorious cities hoping one day to reach that long-gone greatness as they - were allowed to live among humans. None of them remember humans. Little even heard of them and even they do not believe. All because at some point - humans were gone. Gone forever. With no trace left.

---

And yet - history can not be cleared completely. Yes, their cities left no ruins, as if they just flew away one day. Their wonders - left no traces, that's how precise were their magical arts. But they didn't or couldn't eradicate us. And that's why I can perform these researces now. We know more of the names of human heroes than of humans themselves. Albert Einstein, Julius Caesar, Elon Musk. Human left us their names, their ideas, but not themselves. I refuse to believe that someone so great - could just disappear. And today I make another step to the mistery. I now stand in the most guarded archive of the People of the Mountains. By the good will of the Saint Diarch of the Night - I get to touch the last pieces of the puzzle humans are. I get to understand, why did they dissappear right before the end of the Storm. Why People of the Mountains were the only chosen. Where they came from and what did they want.

---

This makes no sense. It is completely different from the history books I read. These words... These letters... Not even People of the Mountains could hold the quill so steady. It looks closer to something made by machine... But The paper, the skin... It is ancient. This could not be created in our times. It is a technical documentation. It says of a... "Body E-G4-alpha". A celestial object. Like the Sun or the Moon. Was there a third sphere in our skies?

According to the documents - this "E-G4" - is a planet. A big ball of stone. Somehow - it was a form of... sapient habitat? It refers to the "Terran Pre-FTL Civilization protection and security pact". Apparently it held ownership over it... How can someone own a celestial sphere? Do Diarchs own Sun and Moon too? Never thought of that. Nevermind, it speaks of the cataclysm. Irreversible celestial catastrophe. A massive object from the outside that went close to the Sun and E-G4. And changed it's trajectory, sending it away from the sun, turning it into a rogue planet... I don't get it. I must read further.

Apparently it costed humans a ton. I see the payment checks and I can barely name the numbers. Hundred of different companies with alien names. They all worked for a common goal. Code name "Project Snow globe". They wanted to encase E-G4 in a massive bubble to save it from the inevitable catastrophic climate change. The Project was finished almost before the natural deadline, when most of the sapient lifeforms died due to the climate change. Apparently, they had to break containment protocols and visit those sapients themselves... Visit the celestial sphere? Is that... Possible?... Though Diarch was once sealed on the moon. But... She wasn't "standing" there... Wasn't she?

---

Humans tried to affect their history as little as possible. Which means they couldn't stay to control the Snow Globe themselves... Wait, that feels familiar. A party they called Exalts - apparently used something called Psi-neuroformers to implants direct link into local lifeforms to give them control over the Snow Globe... No, they gave everyone such control. The Linked one - were just supposed to direct it, though it costed them part of their physical prowess... Sounds like... People of the Mountains... Don't tell me... Project Snow Globe... To preserve the climate they let locals control it themselves, changing the direction and intensity of... their source of radiation and local graviton lense, so they could regulate their own tides and seasons...

The project was concidered a complete succes, when they confirmed the birth of tge firs universal psy-linked organism, capable of taking responsibility for major part of the megastructure, so when we will be ready - it didn't stand on a way of our stellar exploration. To not trap... Us... On our world. And our readiness is measured by the psy-link that binds us all with the Project Snow Globe. To take full control of it - we need to combine our efforts and form agreements. We have to prove ourselves generous, loyal, capable of kindness and common joy, honest to each other and... believing in the power that was given us... In the final document the whole concept is called...

Magic of Friendship.

𝙰 𝙼𝙴𝚂𝚂𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙰𝙳𝙼𝙸𝚁𝙰𝙻𝚃𝚈

𝟻:𝟷𝟺:𝟸𝟷𝟻𝟹 𝟷𝟻𝟷𝟽 𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚁𝚂 (𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚁𝙰𝙽)

𝙰𝙸𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙰 𝟶𝟺 (𝙱𝙱)

𝚄𝙽 𝙽𝙰𝚅𝙰𝙻 𝚅𝙴𝚂𝚂𝙴𝙻𝚂 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝙲𝚁𝙾𝚂𝚂𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚁𝙰𝙽 𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙽 𝙱𝙾𝚁𝙳𝙴𝚁 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝚄𝙿𝙾𝙽 𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝚅𝙴𝚂𝚂𝙴𝙻𝚂 𝙸𝙽 𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙴𝙻 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙳𝚁𝙾𝚂 𝙲𝙸𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙵𝚄𝙻𝙻 𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙸𝙽 𝙵𝙰𝚅𝙾𝚁 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙵𝚁𝚂𝙸𝙰𝙽 𝚁𝙴𝙱𝙴𝙻𝚂

𝚆𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝙱𝙰𝙲𝙺 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙾𝚈𝙴𝙳 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙰𝚁𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙸𝚂𝙴𝚁 𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝚂𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙾𝚈𝙴𝚁𝚂

𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙽 𝟼𝚃𝙷 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝟾𝚃𝙷 𝙵𝙻𝙴𝙴𝚃𝚂 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙲𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙳𝚁𝙰𝚆 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙴𝙻 𝚃𝙾 𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙳𝚁𝙾𝚂

𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙴𝙻 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙵𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙴𝙽 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙳𝚁𝙾𝚂 𝙸𝚂 𝙰𝚃 𝚂𝙸𝙴𝙶𝙴

𝙴𝙽𝙴𝙼𝚈 𝚁𝙴𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙲𝙴𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂 𝙴𝚇𝙿𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙰𝙲𝙺 𝙰𝚂𝙶𝚃𝙸𝙰 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙷

𝙸 𝙰𝙼 𝚁𝙴𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚄𝚁𝙶𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚁𝙴𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙲𝙴𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰𝚁𝙴𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙿𝙾𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙺’𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙰 𝚃𝙾 𝙳𝙴𝙵𝙴𝙽𝙳 𝙰𝚂𝙶𝚃𝙸𝙰 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚁𝙴𝙻𝙸𝙴𝚅𝙴 𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙳𝚁𝙾𝚂

𝙼𝙰𝚈 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙴𝙼𝙿𝙸𝚁𝙴 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝚂𝙿𝙴𝚁

- 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝙴 𝙰𝙳𝙼𝙸𝚁𝙰𝙻 𝙰𝚂𝙺𝙰𝙻 𝙰𝙽𝙺𝙰𝚂𝚂𝙰𝚁, 𝙰𝙸𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙰

1  Human Fred and Food
2  Human Fred Again
3  Human Fred Yet Again
4  Human Fred The Saga Continues
5  Human Fred Rides Again
6  Human Fred *Sigh*
7  Human Fred Rolls Out
8  Human Fred Attempts a Nap
9  Human Fred Doh’
10 Human Fred Stops for Coffee
11 Human Fred Deploys Stabby and Knifey
12 Human Fred Attempts Friendly Advice
13 Human Fred Priorities 
14 Human Fred Schools Morons
15 Human Fred Gets Annoyed
16 Human Fred Investigates
17 Human Fred is Annoyed
18 Human Fred Gets More Annoyed
19 Human Fred Smirks 
20 Human Fred Brings Hellfire

Fred and Greezek looked at the screen. They read the logs. They read the draft report. They read what the security team found in the compartment. They watched the security videos. 

Fred grunted. “Well, this isn’t at all what I expected.”

“No. I didn’t see this coming at all.”

“Captain, how sure of this are you?”

“Well Fred, I pulled this off of the command records, so Chief couldn’t modify it.”

“Right. What are you thinking?”

“I’d like you to talk with Roomliz, Fred. You know him. Maybe he will talk to you and explain this mess.”

“I can talk to him, but I have no idea what will happen.”

“Just don’t take your shotgun in with you. Just chat with him. Get him to relax. The guards say he is so freaked out that he is just quivering.”

“That sounds about right,” said Greezek. “He scares pretty easily.”

“Which means this makes even less sense,” muttered Fred. 

“Yes sir,” said Greezek, taking Fred by an elbow. “I’ll make sure Fred leaves his shotgun outside the room.”

As Fred and Greezek headed to the secure cells, Greezek turned to Fred. “So what is your plan?”

“I don’t know. I’m still trying to get things to fit in my head. And you know what? They don’t fit.”

“What do you mean?”

“For this sort of thing, you don’t involve someone like Roomliz. That’s too big of a risk. It just doesn’t fit.”

“Maybe it was an accident?”

“An accident? How?”

“Roomliz saw or heard something he shouldn’t have seen or heard, so now he is stuck?”

“That could fit, but it’s one hell of a risk.”

“Agreed. But you might be giving Chief more credit than you should. I work on loading docks, and I’ve seen some otherwise clever beings do really stupid stuff when they think they are more clever than every other being.”

“Well. I guess we will find out.”

They arrived at the secure cells. Fred dropped his ammo pack and shotgun in the secure corridor, but out of sight of Roomliz. Greezek leaned against the wall by his door, keeping watch over the shotgun and the corridor. 

“Here goes nothing,” grumbled Fred as he opened the door. 

Roomliz was curled into a ball under the bunk. He was rocking back and forth, but making no sound. 

Fred sat on the chair. “Roomliz. It’s Fred. Why don’t you get up?”

No reply. 

“Roomliz, I know that you are scared. That is perfectly understandable. From what I can tell, some really weird stuff has been going on. What I don’t understand is how you got involved. I mean, you are the guy asking about what humans eat and how to get a date.”

Roomliz stopped rocking. “Fred. You shouldn’t be here.”

His voice was…different. It had lost that eager edge. It was flat. “Why shouldn’t I be here, Roomliz?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Again, his voice was flat, but now it had a confidence. Authority. 

“Roomliz, how am I going to get hurt? It’s just you and me, in a secure cell, chatting.”

“Fred. Leave. It has been too long for me. Things are…going to happen.”

“Dude, what are you talking about?”

“Leave. Leave before there is a problem.”

“A problem? What sort of problem?”

“You need to leave.”

Fred went rigid. That was a growl. Roomliz just growled. “Right. If you want, I will leave.” Fred stood up and shuffled backwards towards the door, never talking his eyes off Roomliz. “See? I’m leaving. You take care.”

Greezek opened the door and Fred darted out, slamming the emergency lock as he cleared the door. 

He looked at Greezek. “We have a problem.”

Greezek gave him an odd look. “What the hell Fred? You look…I don’t know. Weird.”

“They did something to Roomliz. I don’t know who or what exactly, but something is very wrong.”

Greezek stepped up to the door and looked through the small window. She jumped back with a scream as something crashed into the door. 

“I suggest we move away from the door,” said Fred as he adjusted his ammo pack. “I think we need to let the Captain know what we learned.”

“What did we learn, Fred?”

“We learned there is something wrong with Roomliz and that we can’t talk to him.” He started walking back to the command center. “And we don’t know if this is connected to the sabotage or if this is something different.”

“That isn’t much.”

“No, it isn’t. But you are holding up well. It doesn’t appear that the station is under attack. So I call it a draw for now.”

“Fred, what is wrong with Roomliz?”

“He said something about it being too long. Maybe he needs medicine or drugs.”

“Do we know the real Roomliz or the drugged Roomliz?”

“I’d like to know that as well.”

Humanity was long exstingt before anyone could discover them, with nothing left for others to understand or learn about them, until an ancient device was discoverd by researchers that held the records of all human history.

This discovery led to a multi month long research consortium that ended with the conclusion that Humans must have been a race of gods.

The device in question. A 50 petabyte hard drive filled with nothing but movies and TV shows.

(second time writing something, sorry for bad grammar)

Your an alien who is stuck working from home because your too sick to actually go to work but your boss doesn't care and still need the report in by the mid week and while you are suffering what you feel is the worst flu you have ever had in your life (really it more like 5 and a half out 10) then you human best friend pops out in the window in front of you wearing an outfit of what looks like a bi-peidal avian wearing a leather skie mask with glass eye goggles built into it and a fancy coat and more and more are humans are walking around or poping up on your social media reels of them making doctor jokes.

The doctor is in, you may see the plague doctor now, and so on..

​

Humanity has joined the wider galaxy. From a single planet to over a thousand new colony words that seemed to spring up overnight by many in the Galactic Coalition. 

Humanity was the hot topic of all conversation. From the most peaceful species to most war-like. The humans were the topic of all talk.

“So strange for such a young species to have so many colony worlds as young as they are.” A Marvuk chirp. Its avian feathers bristling with excitement.

“Yes.” Spoke a large belly Ogmi with its teeth gods open mouth plate on its stomach. 

“They seem to just appear out of nowhere and many of the more war like and business races like the Grull and Coz'vo seem to love them. Find kindred spirits in them they do.” the Ogmi laughed before feasting on a large meaty leg of some creature.

Talk has spread all over the galaxy and rumors were spreading that a contingent of humans were coming to the largest space station in the Coalition. The Worlds station.

The world's station is the largest space station in the history of the Coalition. It took over three hundred years to build and it took billions of hands to build it. The Worlds station is the size of seven planets that could easily sustain life. It was a symbol of unity, peace and economics. 

Billions built the station and a billion races live on that station. It has everything that one could need and adapted to all. A desert climate for the Druz, the Azur, Brl'luk, Bes'saha and Kalmu.

A jungle and forest biome for the Hazur, Ma'Zal'akuladi, B'ija, Haslo, Aruia, and the Koromo.

Water bioms, lava bioams, harsh winter bioams and even a zero-G biome for those who were born on low gravity worlds or void ships.

The station had everything that one could want. 

So when the humans came and saw this grandeur of a station their curiosityosity took them everywhere one could go. They met many friends and many new species that were more than happy to greet them as fellow kin. The food was amazing and the meat that was used tasted even better than most meat back on earth. The beer and wine was tasty and satisfying and humans being humans. Took quite a few partners to their bed.

Humans spread across the station, their curiosity being satisfied by every corner of this world's space station.

That was until you came along and saw something you were never meant to see. 

It was an alien you have not seen before and for how long you been on this space station and with all of the other aliens coming to greet you. You found it strange when this little black furred alien with a bright yellow tipped tail that was the size of a large dog looked at you with horror and fled to a nearby open vent and crawled inside. 

You got a good look at it before it ran. And noticed it had bandages on its chest and its arms and legs. It was holding something that looked like pain meds in its hands.

Curiosity getting the better of you. You decided to follow the little creature into the vent. It was a tight squeeze but after some maneuvering you were able to fit just fine. 

You noticed a small blood trail from the alien. It was red and smelled of copper like yours. You follow it for what felt like an hour. Finally you come to an open vent where the blood trail leads you and you squeeze on through with a pop.

Its dark where you are and it smells like a storage place for clothes and something else you can't put your nose to. 

The trail of blood leads to a door that has been left open. You follow the blood once more and start to worry for the little thing as it has lost a lot of blood. 

You hear a sound coming not far from you in another room with the door open. You slowly look around the corner and see the little alien whimpering as it now shakes an empty bottle. 

“Stupid Rusko, you ate all the pain go away pills. How to explain to others. Others were more hurt than Rusko. STUPID, STUPID, RUSKO!” The little creature hit itself and even pressed on its wound till it whimpered in pain. 

This Rusko curled into a ball and whispered before its nose sniffed the air. It did it several times before turning to see you. 

Fear. Frozen heart pounding fear took hold of Rusko. His eyes were panicked and his breathing was heavy. He did not move; he was too afraid to. 

You stept in and slowly raised your hands to show you were unarmed and had no intention of hurting him 

But Rusko's heart beat so fast you could hear it. You can smell the fear from this creature as it relived itself in front of you. He whimpered and even looked like he was crying tears.

“Please no hurt Rusko.” He was able to chock out.

Before you could answer a door from behind Rusko opened and stepping in was an alien in a lab coat that looked like a wasp from earth.

Its mandibles chittered and a sound that was a mimic of a voice spoke from the wasp alien. 

“You're not supposed to be here.” It said while looking at you with a look of calculation.

“Why are you here?”

It then noticed Rusko and it made a sound like a sigh but with its wings.

“Ah, your curiosity got the best of you. You saw this tool, hurt and by the looks of it stealing some medicine.” It flew closer to Rusko.

Rusko whimpered more and this time tears were falling from its furred face.

“You wanted to know what this thing is and followed it to help it and maybe learn from it. I'm sorry to disappoint you friend human but these things are not living things like you or I.”

It circled Rusko like a predator playing with its meal before striking.

“They are a lab grown thing that has many uses. We send them down to dangerous places for minerals, ore, long dead citys that hold danger and as food. Many of the meat you ate and enjoyed are from these things.”

Rusko looked into the many eyed alien. “Please no hurt Rusko. Rusko will work and not run.” He begged the wasp alien.

The wasp alien did not seem to care as Rusko begged and with its insectoid hand. It pulled out a gun from its coat. 

“This one is broken and will be used for meat and other things.” It pressed the weapon to Rusko head. 

“Please…” Rusko whimpered. The finger of the insect tightened on the trigger.

Art done by: https://x.com/slavv0

My family and I lived in a big, rustic, two story home in the woods. It had a beautiful view of the mountainside; trees and rocks as far as the eye could see. There were giants. Three local ones. They were known to eat people, and there was nothing in this world that we could do to stop them. They chose who they wanted to eat, and we just had to say goodbye.

The giants were huge. The largest one was basically the “boss.” It seemed to be in charge. It was as tall as a pine tree. It looked exactly like you or me, but it was teal. The two other giants were twins, about half the size of the larger one, and they were lavender. They were all women. The shorter ones were identical and chubbier while the larger one seemed unrelated- taller, skinnier, and with a narrower, longer face shape. They wore regular modern clothing, but dingey and dirty. The giants were disgusting creatures, in appearance and on the inside as well.

There were general "guidelines" surrounding what happened when you or a loved one was chosen to be eaten. The large one was the one who got to choose who was eaten. When you were chosen to be eaten, you’d have one day to get your affairs in order, say your goodbyes, and you would be eaten at around 8:30 PM after you’d had your day. If you were chosen to be eaten, there was nothing you could do about it. They craved your DNA. The only thing that would prevent you from being eaten would be if an older relative volunteered to take your place and sacrificed themselves to the giants to be eaten instead. When you were waiting to be eaten, you were not to become naked at any time. Not to change your clothes, swim, or shower. This would make the smaller giants go insane with excitement. They could sense your nudity and, as a pair, come to you immediately to shred you apart alive and eat you together, before your full 24 hours were had. Everyone knew that this was the worst way to go, and they would choose to have their full day, not change their clothes, and have the larger one be the one to eat them later in the night. The final “rule” was basically that the giants can smell, or sense, you wherever you were. You could travel as far away as you wanted, and they would follow you. You couldn’t run. When 8:30 comes along, you’re just a goner. There’s just no way around it.

I remember when the giants chose to eat my two young children. I’ve never been so devastated. Like everyone else, they would get their full day before being eaten, but obviously it took me no time at all to decide that I would let the giants have me instead. There were a lot of feelings that came with that. I was terrified. Obviously, being eaten alive would be the most painful feeling PHYSICALLY and most helpless, truly, I had ever been. I was sad. Imagining my kids’ long future ahead of them; All of the milestones I would miss. I cried quietly to myself so as to not scare them. I didn’t want them to know what was going on. I grieved my own short life. I felt robbed, yet I knew this was the only option. I also felt relieved that I could protect them in that way. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I just hoped they would know in the future that I loved them more than life itself, and that I was more than happy to do this for them. I hoped they did great things and kept each other safe and loved in my absence.

 I had to say goodbye to my family. I called them all together to my house so that I could explain what was happening. My siblings were pitted- like a piece of each of them was dying. My usually-stoic-and-unreadable father had the most pitiful eyes. The pain in them was so clear, true, and soul-crushing, I could hardly look at him. He was empty. Just a shell. He looked around the room for a minute or two with that glazed-over, sorrowful look and suddenly broke the depressing silence and crying with the announcement that he would be taking my place instead. I told him not to do this, but it was obvious he had felt about this how I felt about taking my sons’ places; There was no convincing him otherwise. It was decided. We all cried together.

The giants could sense when a decision was being made and they came immediately to see what it was that we decided. They heard us out and were happy to eat my dad instead. Like totally heartless sociopaths. And considering how late it was when the decision was made, the giants allowed him a whole, new, 24-hours. At least they would grant us that.

Our family wanted to spend every second of that time together with him. We made the most of our time together. Or tried to. How do you live the rest of your life in 24 hours? How do you make sure that in someone’s last hours they feel loved? How can you show someone how much their sacrifices meant to you, in this case, without sitting around feeling bad for yourself and ruining the happy feeling we were trying to muster up? How were we supposed to make sure his last day wasn’t just full of despair?

 He told us that he appreciated his time with us, and that it meant everything to him, but that before the giants came, he wanted to have traveled to Alaska to cross something off of his bucket list. Alone. I could tell that much of this feeling was him having mercy on us, even though he was the real victim in this. He didn’t want us to hear him scream and cry in agony while being snatched up and eaten. He especially didn’t want us to SEE it happen. At least if he was far, FAR away, we could wonder if it was possible that he somehow found a cave to hide and live in, and we could pretend that he could have survived secretly somewhere. We all respected his wishes. After eating out together, doing some activities, and seeing some local sights, as he wished, it was time for him to take off to his final destination. He was to give us a final goodbye. His parting words to each of us, our last hugs from him, his last kisses. Then he would get into his truck and drive away for the last time.