Every Species Still Tells Stories About The Day Deathworlders Decided To Stop Being Nice | SCI FI

oh by the sacred moons you want to know about the humans dramatic pause you want to know about the day they sto pretending well grab your comfort crystals little ones this story still gives even the bravest proxim and counselor nightmares I remember it like it happened yesterday not 15 Cycles ago there I was Ambassador Krill of Proxima Prime sitting in my designated hover pod in the grand Galactic Council chamber 217 species represent all of us floating about in our climate controlled pods like some deranged three-dimensional parliamentary ballet order order in the council Council leader ven's

Voice boomed through the chamber their bioluminescent tendrils flashing warning patterns of Deep Purple the emergency session regarding the human situation will now commence the usual diplomatic chatter died down faster than a zenian solar slug in a salt storm that should have been our first clue really when have you ever seen the galactic Council shut up so quickly looking back we were all such fools such complete and utter fools we'd spent decades patting ourselves on our various appendages thinking we were so graciously helping those poor primitive humans integrate into Galactic Society oh look at the cute

death worlders trying so hard to be civilized bitter laugh Ambassador NZ tool that pompous gas bag from Riel in inflated himself to twice his normal size which was already far too large if you ask me surely he wheezed through his atmospheric filter there must be some mistake the humans couldn't possibly have the chambers Central hollow projector crackled to life and every being present felt their primary cardiovascular organs skip a beat there it was the human Fleet not the dozen or so outdated ships we graciously allowed them to maintain no no no this was hundreds thousands

of Warships appearing from what we'd assumed was empty space ships that made our most advanced vessels look like children's toys this footage Council leader ven continued their tendrils now a sickly yellow was taken six standard hours ago at the Proxima trading station they paused probably for dramatic effect always had a flare for theater vend did shortly after the Crimson claw Pirates attempted to raid the human colony of new Brisbane a ripple of nervous tentacle twitching and appendage ringing swept through the chamber everyone knew about the Crimson claws the most notorious pirate Fleet in three spiral

arms led by the infamous Admiral Zach they'd been terrorizing shipping lanes for decades not even the council's peacekeeping force could stop them would the human representative please step forward V called out the words hung in the air one beat two beats three oh came a voice from the entrance a human voice Ambassador Sarah Rodriguez stood there and for the first time we all saw what a predator's smile truly looked like I'm afraid the human delegation has resigned from the council effective immediately the chamber erupted in chaos beings of all species started shouting screaming some even

began molting in stress Sarah who we'd all thought of as the nice quiet human who brought those delightful cookie things to diplomatic functions calmly walked to the center platform for 50 years she said her voice cutting through the pandemonium like a plasma blade through atmosphere we played nice we followed your rules we limited our ships restricted our colonies smiled and nodded at your condescension she looked around the chamber making eye contact with various Representatives I still remember how her gaze felt when it landed on me like being studied by something that had evolved to hunt

then the Crimson claws attacked a colony of our children the silence that followed was absolute even the environmental system seemed to hold their breath you have one standard rotation to hand over Admiral Zach and his entire Command Staff Sarah continued Consulting her archaic wrist-mounted chronometer after that well let's just say Humanity has done playing nice she turned and walked out those strange human legs caring ing her with what we now recognized as a predator's Grace the doors hiss shut behind her I'll never forget what Ambassador Naz tool said next his gas filled form deflating slightly

by the void what have we been poking with a stick all these years the answer as we were about to find out was something that should have never been underestimated something that had smiled and played along right up until the moment we crossed a line we didn't even know existed we had been poking a sleeping giant and now now it was wide awake you might wonder how we got ourselves into this mess pour yourself some Centurion Brandy you'll need it let me tell you about our first contact with these peaceful explorers 30 years before the

council emergency our longrange sensors detected a ship limping through the Orion Corridor primitive chemical propulsion barely faster than light the council sent our best first contact team supposedly trained to handle any situation laughs any situation except humans apparently the ship's Captain Jack oconor stepped out with his hands raised we come in peace he said like some character from their entertainment broadcast behind him his crew looked so fragile in their bulky environmental suits we actually thought we needed to protect them the council's first Contact team practically CED over them but there were signs sweet mercy of

the stars there were so many signs during the official welcome ceremony on New Venus a human crew member Tommy Chen was his name caught a falling data Crystal array 200 lb of equipment minimum he caught it with one hand while drinking their coffee with the other when questioned he Shrugged and said good reflexes run in the family the council's xenobiologist were fascinated by human physiology look how they they said their bones knit themselves back together they can survive losing entire limbs how quaint quaint bitter laugh we thought it was quaint then came the Montana incident

oh you haven't heard of that one the council tried to bury it deeper than a martian sandworm it happened at their first off-world colony on Mars a supply shuttle crashed gravitational stabilizers failed three rellian ambassadors trapped inside Marcus Rodriguez yes relation to Sarah their pair bonded happened to be nearby this primitive death worlder looked at the burning shuttle looked at his environmental suits safety warnings and proceeded to ignore every single one he walked through costic marshan dust storms reached the shuttle and lifted it lifted it a 30ton spacecraft the official report called it adrenaline enhanced

situational response the raelians were too busy being grateful to ask questions the council was too busy patting themselves on the back about successfully uplifting such a promising species nobody wanted to ask why a species from a death world would evolve the ability to lift 30 tons but the real kicker the absolute peak of our Collective blindness Ambassador Lisa Chen's speech at the trade Alliance conference picture the scene the grand hall of Commerce on Proxima Prime decorated with with crystalline flowers from a 100 worlds every major trading species represented Lisa Chen takes the stage this tiny

human in her formal diplomatic robes looking about as threatening as a venusian peace moth friends she began and oh how we pined at being called friends by these fascinating newcomers Humanity has much to learn from the galactic Community we're so grateful for your guidance as we take our first steps Among the Stars the tra ministers Aid it up here was a species that knew its place so humble so appreciative we have little to offer in terms of advanced technology she continued but we're eager to trade what we can our art our music our stories she

paused and now I remember The Gleam in her eyes not submission amusement and of course our unique capacity for adaptable problem solving the conference Hall erupted in Applause the human quaint phrase pulled the wool over our eyes comes to mind while we were congratulating ourselves on successfully civilizing another primitive species they were building fleets in Pocket Dimensions while we were trading them outdated technology they were analyzing and improving it in ways we'd never imagin I remember meeting Chen at the reception afterward she was sipping their champagne a beverage that would be classified as toxic on

most worlds and watching the various species mingle beautiful ceremony I said trying to make conversation oh yes she replied we're all about peace and trade it's kind of our thing she smiled and now I know it was the smile of a predator watching prey walk willingly into a trap as long as everyone plays nice that's when administrator CX made his Grand announcement restrictions on human expansion limitations on their ship production designated trade routes they were allowed to use for their own protection he said Chen's grip tightened on her glass I heard it crack just slightly

but her smile never wavered of course and she said whatever the council thinks is best for 30 years they played along 30 years of yes sir and thank you sir and whatever you think is best sir they played the part of the Grateful primitive species so well we forgot something fundamental on their death world nothing survives by being weak we thought we were being generous giving them table scraps of Technology letting them have a few small colonies all the while they were building preparing waiting gods of the Void they were so patient when I think

back to Chen's speech now one line stands out right at the end almost thrown away we look forward to showing you everything Humanity can do turns out that wasn't a promise it was a warning let me tell you about the day after adal Zach signed his death warrant not that any of us knew it at the time we were all too busy laughing at the human's adorable attempt at threatening the most notorious pirate Fleet in the Galaxy the Crimson claws hit new Brisbane at local Dawn 50 ships dropped out of hyperspace jamming Communications standard pirate

tactics Admiral Zach had done this dance a thousand times before the colony's automated defenses were precisely what the council had authorized minimal outd ated easy to overwhelm Captain Rex Martinez was in command of new brisbane's Defense Force we have the recordings from that day the council has tried to delete them but they keep popping up on the galactic net like the humans say the cat's out of the bag this is Captain Rex Martinez of the human Defense Force his voice was so calm that should have been our first warning nobody is that calm when facing

the Crimson claws you have entered restricted human space you have one minute to reverse course the bridge of Zach's Flagship erupted in laughter the recording caught it all the Admiral himself all eight tentacles wiping tears of amusement from his compound eyes managed to sputter or what little death worlder you'll throw rocks at us Martinez's response was delivered in the same eerily calm tone 45 seconds the Pirates launched their first wave boarding pods energy weapons the works three of new brisbane's outdated defense platforms went Dark 30 seconds Zach's Lieutenant a dra nid named Vex leaned into

view of the Comm screen your colony's defenses are already crumbling human surrender now and will only take 90% of your resources 15 seconds the Pirates had disabled the last defense platform Landing ships were entering the atmosphere in the background of Martinez's transmission you could hear the colonies warning sirens 5 Seconds Zach spread his tentacles in a gesture of mock surrender time's up little human what are you going to do now Martinez smiled not the Diplomatic smile we were used to seeing from humans this was something ancient something predatory nothing I'm not going to do anything

but I've just transmitted your exact coordinates to Earth command you have 48 hours to surrender your entire fleet to the galactic Council more laughter from the Pirates behind Martinez the first explosions were visible as Landing ships touched down you have no ships in range Zach said clearly enjoying himself no weapons that could reach us the council has seen to that 47 hours 59 minutes Martinez replied then he cut the transmission the Pirates went about their usual business they landed troops they began rounding up colonists they started loading resources onto their ships standard procedure 6 hours

later Martinez transmitted again just three words 42 hours remaining the council received the recording of This exchange 12 hours after the raid began I was there when they played it in the small chamber the reactions were predictable empty threats scoffed Ambassador nasol the humans have no military capabilities beyond what we've authorized their nearest ships are three weeks away at their best speed added defense minister croll waving a tentacle dismissively perhaps we should increase restrictions on their Communications technology suggested another minister to protect them from further embarrassment every 6 hours Martinez transmitted the same message just

updating the time remaining the Pirates ignored him the council ignored him everyone ignored him what none of us knew what we couldn't have known was that the humans had been watching Admiral's acts for years every raid every movement every stop for supplies they had mapped his entire network his bases his contacts his safe houses everything at the 47h hour Mark Martinez sent his final message if there are any non-pirated ships in the Crimson claw fleet's vicinity now would be a good time to move away 60 minutes remaining the council actually drafted a resolution condemning the

provocative and destabilizing human Communications they were debating the exact wording when the report started coming in ships human ships hundreds of them thousands of them appearing out of nowhere not coming out of hyperspace they were already there hidden in plain sight with technology we didn't even know existed the Crimson claws went from Predator to prey in the space of a single breath every ship every base every hidden installation all simultaneously surrounded then came the final transmission not from Martinez this time but from the human fleet commander Samantha white Admiral Zach Captain Martinez warned you 's

up what happened next nervous pause well that's the next part of the story but I will say this when humans tell you they're giving you a deadline they mean it down to the exact second the council's response an emergency session was called not to address the fact that humans had somehow hidden an entire fleet from the most advanced sensors in the Galaxy not to discuss the implications of them having technology that surpassed our own no no the emergency session was called to draft a strongly worded letter condemning humans for their disproportionate response to piracy you

know what humans call that kind of behavior rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic we didn't understand the reference then we do now Commander Blake torres's face appeared on every screen across Proxima station simultaneously every data pad every entertainment unit every commercial display all showing that same calm human expression several maintenance Bots short circuited trying to broadcast His image on screens that weren't even capable of displaying video nobody who saw that broadcast will ever forget his first words for 50 years you thought you were containing us the truth is we were containing ourselves the council's emergency

defense Fleet had just arrived at Proxima station 2,000 of our most advanced ships gathered to deal with the human situation they were arranged in the Spear of dawn formation considered Invincible by 600 years of tactical Doctrine Torres look down at something offscreen then back up with an expression humans call a smirk your ships are currently surrounded by 15,000 human vessels that have been in position for the last 3 weeks you never saw them because quite frankly you never thought to look for what you didn't believe could exist Ambassador Naz tool watching from the station's Command

Center actually deflated so rapidly he triggered the environmental alarms impossible he wheezed their industrial capacity oh that's right Torres continued as if responding directly to NAS tool you think you know our industrial capacity because you've been monitoring our authorized shipyards that's adorable the station's sensors finally caught up with reality hidden ships decloaking everywhere not just warships entire mobile production facilities floating cities automated repair stations a parallel human civilization that had grown up alongside us completely undetected you restricted us to 12 colonies Torres said checking something on his risk computer would you like to know how

many we actually have no maybe not might give some of you anxiety problems that's when Admiral kex the council Supreme milit Ary Commander made the biggest mistake of his career he ordered the defense Fleet to open fire the humans call what happened next the S minutes of Terror we call it the Awakening both names are accurate minute one the defense fleet's initial barrage enough Firepower to crack a small Moon rippled across seemingly empty space between them and the nearest human ships some kind of energy field we'd never seen before absorb the attacks not deflected absorbed

like throwing rocks into a black hole minute two the human ships began to move not the clumsy predictable movements we were used to they flowed like water like a dance choreographed by some impossibly Advanced AI later we learned it was all human Pilots they train in Zero Gravity from childhood they told us they consider it fun minute three Tores spoke again Admiral kex that was your warning shot please don't make us demonstrate what happened when we actually shoot back minute four Admiral kex ordered a Second Barrage this time the energy weapons were joined by autonomous

strike drones and nuclear warheads the humans LED exactly one drone through their defenses just one we watched it pass harmlessly through a human ship like it was a hologram Quantum displacement Drive Torres explained almost apologetically we figured that out about 20 years ago neat isn't it minute five ad Al kex ordered the Spear of dawn formation to advance 2,000 of the most powerful ships in known space moving as one Unstoppable Force the humans responded with something they called operation lights out minute 6 every ship in the defense Fleet went dark not damage just dark engines

weapons life support everything except emergency power for basic life support 2,000 ships neutralized without firing a shot targeted electromagnetic pulse Torres explained calibrated to your exact Shield frequencies we've had decades to study your technology after all don't worry life support will stay online we're not monsters final minute as the defense Fleet drifted helplessly Escape pods carrying terrified Crews the human ships began what they called the display they transformed ships split apart and recombined Mobile Stations unfolded into conf configurations that defied physics as we understood it a hundred smaller vessels merged into one massive one then

split apart again just so we're clear Torres said everything you've seen today this is our civilian technology our basic self-defense capability would you like to see what our actual military can do the council's response came immediately that won't be necessary Torres nodded looking genuinely relieved good because honestly we really don't want to show you that we really really don't the humans restored power to the defense Fleet every system came back online exactly as it had been down to the personal entertainment units still playing the same songs they even cleaned up the mess from NZ Tool's

rapid deflation as the station's Command Staff watched in stunned silence Torres made one final statement the council has 48 hours to accept our terms for a new relationship between species and before any one gets any ideas he gestured and a holographic display appeared showing human ships in similar positions around every major Council World we're everywhere we've always been everywhere the only difference is now we're done pretending we're not then every screen went dark for exactly 3 seconds before returning to normal programming except for one small detail every digital clock in Council space was now displaying

a countdown from 48 hours I heard what Admiral kek said said next his words are now carved on the wall of the council chamber as a reminder by all the gods of space we spent 50 years thinking we were keeping them in a cage we were living in a house with a sleeping Dragon congratulating ourselves on how well we trained it and now now it's awake an aid spoke up Sir what do we do the Admiral looked around the command center at the displays showing thousands of human ships that had been there all along at

the countdown ticking away on every screen and said the five words that would define the new era of Galactic politics we do what they want the Pax human changed everything when the council chambers reopened 3 days after the Awakening the humans had redecorated just one small change a simple digital counter on the main wall displaying days since last attempt to patronize Humanity three the numbers on that counter have gotten pretty impressive lately Commander Torres stood before the Council next to Ambassador Rodriguez the contrast was striking his military uniform against her diplomatic robes the iron fist

in the velvet glove as humans say let's be clear about what happens now Rodriguez began her smile warm but her eyes sharp we're not here for Revenge we're not here for dominance we're here to fix a broken system the terms of pax hum were surprisingly reasonable actually that scared people more than any show of force could have first no more technological restrictions you tried to keep us safe by keeping us primitive Torres explained meanwhile we developed quantum physics because you told us it was impossible never tell humans something is impossible we take it personally second

open borders all of them those trade route restrictions Rodriguez laughed we ma the entire galaxy 5 years ago here's a database of every habitable planet you haven't found yet you're welcome third a complete overhaul of the galactic Defense Force you're not going to like this part Torres warned but your entire military Doctrine is based on looking impressive rather than being effective we're going to fix that fourth the end of the council species classification system No More Death worlds no more Garden worlds no more arbitrary rankings Rodriguez declared you know what humans call that kind of

system racism we're not fans the the council chambers erupted in protests Ambassador nasul inflated himself to his full size ready to deliver one of his famous speeches about tradition and protocol Rodriguez held up a hand the chamber went silent nobody wanted to risk finding out what other capabilities humans had been hiding here's what you don't understand she said we're not asking these changes are happening your choice is whether to work with us or quit the council entirely and before anyone gets clever ideas about resistance she gestured to the windows where a human ship chose that

moment to Quantum tunnel through another ship leaving both completely unharmed well you've seen what our civilian ships can do the vote was unanimous funny how persuasive humans can be when they stop pretending to be harmless within a month everything changed human technology flooded the Galaxy trade routes quadrupled former Pirates became legitimate Merchants overnight turns out humans are very persuasive about career changes the most shocking part they shared everything all that technology they'd been developing in secret free access to everyone their Quantum tunneling drives available at any Shipyard their Advanced Medical techniques taught at every hospital

the Galaxy runs better when everyone can keep up was how Rodriguez explained it but it wasn't all sunshine and quantum physics the first trade delegation to try exploiting a newly discovered species found themselves facing Commander Torres himself congratulations he told them materializing on their Bridge through what they thought was a secure Shield system you've just volunteered to be an example their ships were Quantum locked in place not destroyed just Frozen in SpaceTime the delegates were transported back to their home worlds their company assets were redistributed to their victims the counter in the council chamber reset

to zero after that it's amazing how quickly everyone learned to play nice turns out the prospect of having your molecules randomly redistributed across Quantum space is a great motivator for ethical Behavior but here's the real kicker the humans were exactly who they claimed to be all along peaceful explorers yes enthusiastic traitors absolutely dedicated to Galactic Harmony without question they just happen to believe that peace works better when backed by the ability to Quantum tunnel a battle Fleet into your bedroom during the first anniversary of the Awakening I worked up the courage to ask Rodriguez about

it why maintain the facade for so long why not show their true capabilities from the start she smiled that same warm genuine smile that had fooled us for 50 years true string she said isn't about showing everyone how powerful you are it's about being powerful enough that you don't need to show it and now I asked now we don't have to pretend to be less than we are do you know how exhausting it was remembering to lose at arm wrestling contests having to calculate exactly how slow our ships needed to be to not arouse suspicion

making sure we only solve scientific problems at the approved rate she laughed and for the first time I heard real joy in it we can Finly be ourselves and it turns out ourselves want nothing more than what we always said we wanted peace trade and friendship we just also happen to have Quantum bombs the Galaxy's a different place now better mostly the humans keep us honest it's hard to be corrupt when you know a human ship could pop into existence next to you at any moment that counter in the council chamber it's up to 847

days now a new record turns out the humans were right about one more thing the Galaxy really does run better when everyone can keep up we're exploring faster trading smarter growing stronger together just nobody tell them something's impossible I hear they're already trying to figure out time travel and honestly I wouldn't bet against them so there you have it young ones that's how the Galaxy learned that the most dangerous predator isn't the one that charges at you with teeth and Claws it's the one that smiles brings cookies to meetings and quietly builds Quantum weapons while

teaching you their board games these days life's different better in ways we couldn't have imagined last week I watched a rellian battle cruiser Quantum tunnel through three solid planets to deliver emergency medical supplies the captain was humming something called Star Trek theme music the humans have infected us all with their strange ways remember that counter in the council chamber they turned it into a galaxy-wide holiday celebration when it hits Milestone numbers the parties are spectacular humans really know how to celebrate though I still don't understand why they insist on something called kokei the Pirates most

of them work in shipping now legitimate shipping turns out humans have a gift for rehabilitation something about Second Chances and positive reinforcement though the quantum trackers embedded in their ships probably help with the motivation you should see the galactic Defense Force these days humans insisted on redesigning the uniforms if we're going to protect the Galaxy we should at least look cool doing it their fashion consultant said they added Pockets so many pockets the species classification system is gone now we just have categories like prefers nitrogen atmosphere or silicon-based digestive system much more practical though humans

still can't resist bragging about being the only known species that can digest something called ghost peppers but you want to know the real will change the Deep one we're not afraid anymore not of humans well maybe a little any species that can accidentally solve quantum physics because someone said it was impossible deserves a healthy dose of respect no we're not afraid of the unknown anymore humans taught us something they knew all along the universe isn't something to hide from it's something to face head on preferably while making terrible puns and drinking beverages that would kill

most carbon-based life forms they're out there right now you know human ships scattered across the Galaxy not watching us that's not their style anymore they're exploring trading making friends solving problems that can't be solved building things that shouldn't be possible yesterday a human child asked me why proxim and skin changes color with emotions I started explaining about chromatophores and neural responses she said that's so cool can I learn to do that too yeah her mother quickly explained that humans can't change their skin color the child thought for a moment and said yet we can't do

it yet that's Humanity for you tell them something's impossible and they hear a challenge tell them they can't change their biology and they start drafting research proposals the council still meets still debates still makes decisions but now there's almost always a human in the room usually drinking coffee and grinning like they know something we don't they probably do sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we treated them as equals from the start if we'd looked at these death worlders who smiled too much and thought partner instead of primitive but humans have a saying for

that too no use crying over spilled milk though I still don't understand why anyone would cry over spilled milk humans are strange that way so next time you meet a human and you will they're everywhere now remember this story remember that behind their smiles and their jokes and their inexplicable love of dad puns lies a species that reshape the Galaxy without firing a shot well mostly without firing shots Admiral Zach doesn't count even humans agree some lessons need to be taught the hard way and if you ever hear a human say hold my beer and

watch this run just run trust me on this one end of log Ambassador Krill Proxima Prime diplomatic core PS if any humans are reading this yes we know you solved time travel last week please stop leaving spoilers about next year's council elections in the suggestion box it's not funny okay it's a little funny but but still stop it