Captain Elena Martinez slouched in her thoroughly uncomfortable chair aboard the Earth diplomatic vessel humble Origins fighting to keep a straight face as the zixian Ambassador droned on about the latest advancements in their supposedly Superior propulsion technology the ship's name itself was an inside joke that the aliens never seemed to get much like how they never noticed that the ship's deliberately crude exterior housed some of Humanity's most sophisticated technology and you see Captain Martinez Ambassador crical gestured with his upper appendages mandibles clicking in what humans had Learned was their expression of condescension our latest Quantum Drive
modifications allow us to achieve point8 Light Speed without any of those primitive Fusion reactors your species relies on Elena nodded adopting the wide-eyed amazed expression that had become second nature after years of these diplomatic meetings fascinating Ambassador we can only dream of such achievements she paused to take a sip from her standard issue metal cup hiding her smirk as she recalled the fact that her ship's actual drive system had broken the light speed barrier three decades ago the humble Origins was a masterpiece of deception its exterior was deliberately designed to look like it was cobbled
together from spare parts a trait that the zixian and other alien species found both endearing and pitiable they never questioned why the supposedly primitive Hull could somehow withstand the same deep space conditions as their Advanced Materials the humans had gotten very good at explaining things away with we just over engineer everything or we compensate with extra shielding tell me Captain crical continued settling into what Ellena recognized as his lecture pose have your scientists made any progress with basic gravitational field manipulation I know it must be frustrating being limited to mean iCal artificial gravity systems Elena
thought about the quantum gravity Drive humming silently beneath her feet the one that could generate targeted gravitational fields powerful enough to tear a small moon apart oh you know how it is Ambassador we're still working on understanding the basic principles but we're hopeful just last month we managed to create a small anti-gravity field that lasted almost 3 seconds the ambassador's clicking grew more pronounced he was practically chling now 3 seconds how quaint but don't worry Captain give your species another Century or two and I'm sure you'll figure it out after all the zixian Confederacy is
always happy to provide guidance to emerging civilizations the ship's AI pinged her neural implant another piece of technology the aliens thought humans were decades away from developing Captain detecting unusual energy signatures from the ambassador's personal device he appears to be scanning our Bridge systems Elena maintained her Pleasant smile while mentally commanding the ship systems to feed the ambassador's scanner the usual fake readings inefficient power distribution primitive computer systems and enough radiation leakage to make any alien engineer winse with sympathy the zixian had been trying to secretly analyze human technology for years convinced they must be
missing something about such a primitive species had survived this long sir we're so grateful for your patience with us Ambassador Elena said standing to stretch in a deliberately awkward manner I know it must be frustrating dealing with a species that still uses physical buttons and switches she gestured to the bridges control panels their seemingly crude interfaces hiding Quantum linked controls that could respond to thought faster than any physical button cric's four eyes eyes blinked in sequence their version of a patronizing smile not at all Captain we find your species determination quite admirable why just yesterday
I was telling the galactic Council how impressed I was that humans managed to achieve space flight with such limited understanding of basic physics ellena's first officer Commander Chen chose that moment to enter the bridge purposefully tripping over his own feet before catching himself oops still getting used to this artificial gravity sir I mean ma'am Captain he gave the Ambassador a sheepish Grin While discreetly transmitting data to Ellena showing that they'd successfully mapped every weakness in the zix tarian defense systems during this diplomatic meeting careful there Commander Ellena said playing along we wouldn't want the ambassador
to think we're not ready for these highlevel diplomatic exchanges as cric launched into another condescending lecture about the proper way to maintain one's balance in space Elena allowed herself a tiny secret smile sometimes she wondered how long humans would need to keep up this charade but then she remembered the last species that had revealed their true technological capabilities too soon to the galactic Council they'd been immediately labeled a threat and subjected to preventative containment no better to play the fool for now after all humans had gotten very very good at it the galactic Council chamber
was just as pretentious as Elena expected all sweeping crystalline arches and floating platforms that screamed look how advanced we are to anyone who entered she sat at the lowest tier along with representatives from other developing species while the zix Arians and their allies lounged in their elevated positions and now droned Council leader Vex Thor their bioluminescent spots pulsing with self-importance we moved to the matter of technological trading restrictions with pre-ftl civilizations Elena's neural implant buzzed urgently a priority message from new Eden Colony flashed across her vision Pirates attacking heavily armed Council registered Raiders claiming Salvage
rights on primitive settlement her blood boiled but she kept her expression carefully neutral as she raised her hand like a school child exactly how the council expected lesser species to request permission to speak yes yes human representative Vex Thor sighed dramatically I hope this Interruption is warranted so sorry to disturb the council's important deliberations Elena said layering her voice with just the right amount of uncertainty and deference but I've just received word that the human Colony on new Eden is under attack by Pirates they're claiming Salvage rights but there are over 10,000 civilians laughter rippled
through the chamber Ambassador cric's mandibles clicked rapidly in Amusement Salvage rights oh how perfectly legitimate you see Captain Martinez according to Galactic law section 47b settlements without adequate defensive capabilities are considered derelict by default but our people are still living there Ellena protested playing up her desperation surely the council can't allow the council suggests interrupted Vex Thor that Humanity should have invested in proper defensive technology instead of those Charming but obsolete orbital satellites perhaps this will be a valuable learning experience for your species Elena stood slowly her chair scraping against the floor in the most
undignified way possible so just to be completely clear she said letting a hint of Steel enter her voice the council is officially refusing to assist a member species under attack not at all kxol spread his upper appendages magnanimously we would be happy to dispatch a protection Fleet for the usual technological exchange rate of course I believe the standard fee is unrestricted access to all your colony's resources for the next next 50 Cycles more laughter echoed through the chamber Elena caught sight of the pirate leader credentials scrolling across her implant display registered out of a zarian
port well wasn't that interesting I see Ellena said Gathering her outdated paper notebooks and mechanical pencils props that had earned her countless patronizing looks over the years then I suppose I should go break the news to my superiors that we're on our own though I do have one small question before I leave make it quick human representative Vex Thor waved a dismissive tentacle we have actual important matters to discuss Ellena paused at the chamber door dropping her carefully maintained facade for just a moment as she turned back to the council I was just wondering does
anyone here know what happened to the last group of pirates who tried to raid a human settlement obviously they succeeded given your species limited defensive capabilities scoffed a drachnid representative from one of the upper tiers funny thing about that Elena's smile turned predatory there's no record of them succeeding in fact there's no record of them at all anymore almost like they just disappeared she Shrugged slipping back into her harmless demeanor but that's probably just because of our primitive recordkeeping systems good day council members I'm sure we'll all have much to discuss very soon the chamber
doors closed behind her cutting off the confused murmurs of the council Elena's stride lengthened as she headed for the teleport pad her posture straightening from its usual apologetic slouch Lieutenant she sub vocalized to her neural implant send word to to new Eden tell them to maintain minimal defense appearances for exactly 7 more minutes and then well then they can stop pretending I captain her officer's voice held the same anticipation she felt shall I prepare the humble Origins for departure we're still showing all the usual energy readings of a primitive vessel Elena's smile grew wider oh
yes let's keep up appearances for just a little long long ER wouldn't want to spoil the surprise she stepped onto the teleport pad another piece of technology humans had supposedly not yet mastered though you might want to warm up the actual weapon systems you know the ones that don't officially exist already done Captain the quantum Arsenal is ready and our dimensional Shields are at full capacity still running the hollow projection of those cute little metal plates the council thinks we use for protection perfect Elena took one last look at the council chamber behind her you
know I almost feel bad about this the Pirates are about to learn they've made a terrible mistake and the council well the council is about to learn why humans have won every war they've ever fought should I prepare your battle speech captain no need Lieutenant I think a simple surprise will suffice the teleporter hummed to life life its supposed primitive nature bellied by the complete lack of sound or Flash that supposedly more advanced systems produced oh and send a message to Admiral Chen tell her operation trojan horse is finally a go as Elena's form dissolved
into Quantum particles her last thought was that the Expressions on the council members faces would be absolutely Priceless when they realized just how thoroughly they'd been played the game was over it was time for Humanity to stop playing the fool the pirate Fleet hung over new Eden like vultures their supposedly Superior ships arranged in an attack formation that any firstyear human Cadet could have defeated Elena watched through the humble Origins Quantum viewers as they bombarded the colony's primitive Shields with enough Firepower to level a small continent Captain her tactical officer voice carried a note of
barely suppressed Glee the Pirates are demanding The Colony surren their leader one Captain zakar is broadcasting his terms put him on Elena said finally allowing herself to sit properly in her command chair no more slouching no more pretending a hologram materialized showing a scarred zixian pirate wearing enough decorated armor to outfit a small army attention primitive human settlement your defenses are nothing against our Superior technology surrender now and actually Elena interrupted causing the pirate Captain to sputter in shock at her lack of proper fearful deference I was thinking we could discuss your ship's registration specifically
how you're operating out of a zixian port under Council authorization she examined her nails casually interesting coincidence that you dare zukar started but Elena was done playing nice tenant dropped the hollow shroud all of them the humble Origins shimmered its appearance of cobbled together metal plates disolving to reveal sleek black Quantum steel armor around the ship space itself seemed to Ripple as dozens of human vessels phased into normal space from their dimensional pocket each one bristling with weapons that Humanity had supposedly been centuries away from developing what what is this trickery zaku car's mandibles clicked
rapidly in distress Elena smiled oh I'm sorry were we supposed to keep pretending to be harmless my bad she pressed a button on her chair a real one this time Commander Chen would you mind giving our friends a small demonstration one of the human ships fired a single Quantum torpedo the Pirates watched in horror as it phased through their Superior Shields like they didn't exist detonating in a precisely controlled burst that carved the Squadron Leader's name into the side of their Flagship that's that's impossible zuar shrieked your species hasn't even mastered basic Shield harmonics about
that Elena leaned forward enjoying herself immensely we might have exaggerated our technological inadequacies just a tiny bit you see we learned a long time ago that the Galaxy tends to gang up on species that show their full capabilities too soon so we decided to play dumb she gestured to her Fleet very very dumb the new Eden colony's defenses suddenly flared to life Quantum Shields snapping into place as weapon systems that had been disguised as communication arrays powered up the colonists themselves were emerging from buildings their supposed agricultural tools transforming into advanced battle armor fun fact
about humans Elena continued conversationally we got really good at hiding things during our early Wars like really good those orbital satellites you dismissed each one contains enough Firepower to vaporize a small Moon that primitive sensor array actually a Quantum AI Hub that's been mapping every weakness in your ship since you arrived the pirate fleet was now trying to retreat their engines straining at maximum power they weren't moving an inch oh right Elena snapped her fingers we also figured out how to generate localized gravity Wells sorry about that must be all that over engineering we're famous
for she turned to her tactical officer would you kindly demonstrate our Point defense capabilities the ones we definitely didn't reverse engineer and improve upon after scanning the council's ships during all those diplomatic meetings space lit up with precisely targeted Quantum be each shot threading through the gaps between pirate ships to sketch a massive smiley face in the stars behind their Fleet Captain her Communications officer interrupted we receiving multiple hails from the galactic Council put them on split screen Elena said I want to make sure everyone gets a good view of this teaching moment the council
members faces appeared their expressions ranging from shock to outrage to Pure Terror ambassador cric tall looked like he was about to faint now then Elena addressed both the Pirates and the council let's discuss the true meaning of Salvage rights but first she pressed another button causing her ship's Quantum core to pulse visibly would anyone like to see what else Humanity has been hiding we've got about three centuries of technological advances we've been dying to show off the silence that followed was in ellena's professional opinion absolutely perfect the galactic Council chamber had never been so quiet
Elena stood at the center of the floor not in the lower tier where Humanity had been relegated for decades but right in the middle of the grand hall the Holograms of her fleet's demonstration played in the background showing human ships dancing through space with impossible Grace while Pirates flailed helplessly in their gravity Nets so Elena said brightly should we review all those technological trade restrictions now I brought visual aids she gestured and her neural implant projected a timeline of every patronizing interaction the council had ever had with Humanity oh look here's footage of Ambassador crical
explaining basic spaceship construction to our Engineers the same Engineers who designed our Quantum fold drives cric's mandibles had stopped clicking entirely they hung limply as he watched a recording of himself patronizingly explaining Concepts Humanity had mastered 50 years ago and this is my personal favorite Elena continued bringing up another hologram the time the council voted to deny us access to gravitational manipulation technology because and I quote humans might accidentally create a black hole meanwhile she snapped her fingers and a small section of space near the chamber window curved visibly before snapping back to normal this
this is impossible Vex Thor finally managed to sputter your species was barely able to achieve light speed actually Elena corrected we broke the light speed barrier before we ever made first Contact those slow ships you saw props really expensive props but worth every credit for the looks on your faces right now a drachnid representative surged to their feet you lied to the council this is an outrage no ellena's smile turned sharp we protected ourselves from a council that has a documented history of subjugating or isolating any species that shows too much advancement too quickly she
pulled up another hologram this one showing historical records the Arians the quantum Collective the Silicon Consciousness all declared threats and contained because they didn't hide their cap cap abilities that was for the good of the Galaxy protested another council member really because from where we're standing it looks an awful lot like the council has been systematically eliminating potential competition Ellena began to Pace her boots clicking against the crystal floor did you really think Humanity achieved space flight survived multiple world wars and unified our entire planet just to become the Galaxy's resident comedy act she turned
to face the council allowing her neural implants to Glow visibly beneath her skin while you were laughing at our primitive computers we were mapping your entire defense network every time you gave us a patronizing lecture about basic technology we were scanning your supposedly Superior ships those diplomatic meetings where you thought we were bumbling around with mechanical translators we were actually running deep olical analyses of every species behavioral patterns the chamber erupted in chaos as council members began shouting accusations and demands Elena waited patiently until Vex Thor finally restored order what do you want the council
leader asked their bioluminescent spots pulsing with anxiety want Elena laughed oh we don't want anything new we want exactly what we've always asked for fair trade Mutual defense and equal representation the only difference is that now you know we can enforce those requests she brought up one final hologram a complete map of council space with Humanity's hidden Fleet positions marked in glowing dots there were thousands of them we have ships stationed in dimensional Pockets throughout Council space Quantum arrays hidden in asteroid belts AI systems integrated into your own network so deeply you'll never find them
all Elena's voice turned serious we could have conquered the council a dozen times over instead we chose to play the fool because we genuinely believed in the possibility of peaceful cooperation the silence stretched as the council members processed this information finally Ambassador crical spoke up his voice barely a whisper all those times you asked us for help we were testing you Elena confirmed every single time humanity came to the council with a problem we were watching to see if you'd actually help or just use it as another opportunity to prove your superiority care to guess
how many times you chose to help no one answered the number zero hung unspoken in the air so Elena clapped her hands together cheerfully should we discuss updating those trade agreements and maybe take another look at the council's policy on emerging civilizations while we're at it I have some fascinating proposals about Mutual technological exchange that don't involve extortion or resource theft vexor slumped in their chair do we have a choice of course you do Elena said kindly you can choose to work with us as equals or she let the Holograms of her Fleet flare brighter
for a moment you can choose to find out what else Humanity has been hiding I suggest option one it involves a lot less paperwork as the council chambers descended into frantic discussion Elena allowed herself a small satisfied smile centuries of playing the fool had finally paid off and Humanity could at last stop pretending to be less than they were though she had to admit watching the council scramble to reorganize the entire Galactic power structure was almost as fun as pretending not to understand artificial gravity 3 months after what was now being called the Great Revelation
Elena sat in her office aboard the humble Origins watching the parade of alien diplomats practically tripping over themselves to establish new trade agreements with Humanity the ship had kept its name though now it was clearly meant as irony rather than deception Captain her AI announced the zix Taran trade delegation is here again third time this week let me guess Elena sighed leaning back in her chair properly this time no more pretend discomfort they've discovered another cache of ancient technological artifacts they're willing to trade exclusively to humanity actually the AI sounded amused this time they're offering
unlimited access to their Quantum engineering facilities the same facilities they said would be too complex for our primitive Minds to comprehend Elena chuckled funny how quickly things change she pulled up a holographic display showing the current state of Galactic Politics the council was still in chaos desperately trying to reorganize itself into something more Equitable after Humanity's Revelations had sparked demands for reform from other developing species turned out humans weren't the only ones who'd been hiding their capabilities they were just the first to reveal them a message notification blinked in her peripheral vision Admiral Chen says
operation Hidden Dragon is proceeding as planned the AI reported the drachnid Empire has agreed to stop their secret military buildup in exchange for human assistance with their solar engineering project the same project they mocked us for failing at 50 years ago Elena shook her head send them the specs for our Dyson Sphere prototypes the real ones this time another notification popped up up Ambassador cric tal requesting a personal meeting Elena actually felt a bit sorry for him these days the former Council hardliner had been reassigned to cultural exchange duties which mostly involved him sitting through
detailed explanations of human technology while trying not to look like he was about to faint Captain Commander chenk voice came through her neural link you might want to see this the council's just passed the equal species technology Exchange act unanimously Elena pulled up the feed from the council chambers the sight of formerly Superior species voting to share their technological achievements without conditions would never get old oh and one more thing Chen added obvious Amusement in his voice remember those pirates we captured they're requesting Asylum apparently they'd rather face human Justice than return to zixian face
and explain how they got beaten by primitive technology approve it Elena said send them to new Eden Colony I hear they're looking for people to test their new Quantum mining equipment the stuff we supposedly couldn't comprehend two months ago she stood and walked to her window watching as ships from across the Galaxy docked with human stations some were there for trade others for diplomatic missions and more than a few were probably trying to figure out what else Humanity might be hiding you know what the funny thing is she mused to her AI we're actually sharing
more technology now than we would have if they just treated us as equals from the start humans do appreciate irony the AI agreed a alert flashed the galactic University was requesting human instructors for their Advanced physics department the same Department that had rejected human scientists as too primitive to understand basic quantum mechanics less than a year ago should I prepare your usual response about Humanity's limited understanding of advanced concepts the AI asked its tone dripping with sarcasm no Elena smiled I think those days are behind us send them our actual curriculum and include that paper
on dimensional engineering that we've been sitting on for the last decade as she watched the Stars Elena reflected on how differently things might have gone if Humanity had revealed their true nature from the start the Galaxy wasn't ready for equality then but being underestimated had given Humanity time to guide it in the right direction Captain the AI interrupted her thoughts the council is requesting human representatives for their new Advanced species integration committee tell them wek be happy to attend Elena said and make sure our Representatives bring along those primitive notepads and pencils for Old Time
sake after all just because Humanity had stopped pretending didn't mean they couldn't enjoy a good joke especially when the joke had helped reshape the entire galaxy
