Humans are Space Orcs Inspired Short Story

Inspired by this prompt (X) : The biggest warmongering race of Aliens declare war on the local Galaxy cluster. The opposing group of peace-loving Aliens, who had befriended most Alien races, are finally forced to reveal their secret weapon, a ‘classified’ species called Humans, and their tenacity as persistence predators.

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“Ma’am. The V’afinog leader has sent a message.”

Rahn closes all six of her eyes, heart sinking into her thorax. A fine tremor starts in her vestigial wings. “So it’s true. They’ve returned to their bloodthirsty crusade.”

Undan nods miserably. The holo-pad in his hands shows the details of the crisis; six ships already attached to the planet holding their Boundary Station. Hundreds of V’afinog are holding the planet hostage. It’s only a matter of time before they assume complete control of the Boundary Station and can open the relay of shields between their galaxy and Rahn’s.

Rahn doesn’t bother with denial. Yes, there’s supposed to be a treaty between their Galaxies. Yes, the V’afinog are breaking that treaty and risking every trade agreement that keeps them alive in their barren corner of the universe. Yes, it’s beyond imagination, beyond comprehension.

But it’s happening.

She makes a conscious effort to hold her wings still. “The Station?”

“Still unbreached,” Undan reports. He twists the pad around so she can see the glowing red dots that mark the V’afinog troops. “However, they're making short work of our shields. Ma’am, I don’t think we have a choice. They’re too fast.”

“On my grandmother’s wings,” Rahn whispers. This is the worst possible scenario, a scenario so awful that there is only one course of action left. “All these years holding them back wasted because those bloodthirsty lizards can’t keep a single promise.”

Undan’s wings flutter uncomfortably. He doesn’t need to ask who this new they are. “Our relations with them are quite good, ma’am. I don’t think there’s too much cause for alarm. They’ll help us.”

Rahn stares at him in horror. “Undan, you befriended one, didn’t you?”

“That’s not-- I’m just saying they’ll help--”

“Of course they’ll help.” Rahn rises to her full height, towering over Undan at four feet. “I know that! The problem is what comes after. They’ll gain access to the rest of Space once their obligations to us are met!”

“I don’t think it’s all that bad,” Undan protests weakly. Still, he defends them. That’s the problem with befriending one. It changes all sorts of things inside your head. He cowers as her wings flare. “I don’t! They’re really quite nice once you get to know them--”

“Nice,” Rahn spits. She turns on her heel towards the command center computer. “I know they’re nice. Being nice doesn’t change what they are.” She opens a blank message screen and throws her hand at it. “Go on. Send your friend a call to arms.”

Undan hums nervously as he slinks forward. “Yes, ma’am.” He pecks out a message and glances at her over his shoulder. “Steve really isn’t like what you’re thinking--”

“Steve?!”

Undan startles so badly he hits send before he completes the message. It reads as such:

Dear Steve,

There’s a threat to the Boundary Station and I am afraid

“Oh no,” Undan says, “that’s going to make him so worried.”

Rahn resists the urge to beat at her exoskeleton. Why, why, why is it always that awful Steve who seduces her new recruits into friendship?

----

Steve hums low in his throat as he surveys the V’afinog ship parked in the clearing across from his tree. His team is perched in the trees around him, a group of 10 volunteers determined to protect the galaxy for Undan. And his federation, of course. Steve uses his thumb to measure the size of the vessel. “That’s a big ship.”

“It can hold up to 150 V’afinog,” Trina reports. She’s hanging by her knees above him, a pair of binoculars pressed to her face. “Though heat signatures have the count at about 100. Teams Willow and Zed are reporting similar numbers at the other five locations.”

“Five times one hundred…” Steve grins. “How many volunteers in total we got?”

“Thirty,” Trina says.

“There you go,” Steve says. “We each need to take out five and we’re done!”

“No,” Trina says. “No, that’s not how math works.”

“The V’afinog are notoriously fast,” Anika says from the tree to his left. She’s wearing complete camo despite the Boundary Station planet’s fauna being completely purple instead of green. “Their physiology is closest to an alligator lizard. Though cold-blooded, they’ve got technology that allows them to remain in peak physical condition no matter the weather. It’s entirely possible they scatter before our assault teams even make a dent in their forces.”

Steve waves a hand. “Let ‘em run. Our ol’ pal Rahn’s got this planet on lockdown.” His teeth gleam as he grins. “They won’t get far.”

Answering grins fill the trees around him.

------

“Leader,” the smallest V’afinog pants as he enters the cave, “there is no good news.”

The Leader does his best not to look as winded as his subordinate. Their species’ hierarchy depends on strength and he won't show weakness now. “Report.”

“Cell A through C have been eradicated,” the little one says. His double eyelids are flickering wildly in an attempt to hold back his tears. “We lost contact with Cell D yesterday on Day 5.”

“Has it only been six days?” The Leader shakes his head. “Nevermind. What have you discovered about these monsters?”

“Cell C left behind an interrogation log. Or, rather, what they thought would be an interrogation log of one of the monsters.” The messenger looks sick to his stomach. “I can only assume it allowed itself to be captured in order to lead the others to Cell C. It used itself for bait.”

“Dear ancestors,” the Leaders says. For bait? They are capable of martyrdom on that level? He feels light-headed and desperately tries to hide it. “What did the monster tell them?”

“It called their species ‘humans,’” the messenger says. “It said it was there to ‘avenge Undan.’ Cell C asked what Undan was. The monster said it was their ‘friend.’”

“Ha.” The Leader hisses with delight. The only species who call others friends are weak. “So they’re emotional. That makes them weak. We just need to wait for them to tire of this game--”

“That’s the thing,” the messenger says. A fine tremor runs through him. “According to the log, they don’t get tired. Cell C lost the prisoner hours after their initial capture. The last three logs detail Cell C's attempt to flee towards Cell D.”

The Leader blinks slowly. “Attempt?”

The messenger’s claws click as he looks nervously over his shoulder. “Yes, Leader. Apparently they experienced the same phenomenon we have. The minute they thought they lost the monsters - the humans - and stopped to rest, the humans caught up to them. Silently. Without any sign of strain. Sometimes it took minutes, other times hours. The humans always managed to track Cell C down…” he trails off, looking to the mouth of the cave again.

“We’re hidden,” the Leader snaps. The cave they’re in is nearly impossible to spot, blocked by large trees and dense fauna. “There won’t be any humans here.”

“But, Leader, they’ve found us before, just like what Cell C described! It’s been almost a full day since we found this cave--”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” The Leader looms over the messenger, tongue darting out in irritation. “What of Cell C’s fate?”

“The last log is confusing,” the messenger whispers. He makes a conscious effort to not check his back again. It feels like something is watching him. “They headed to Cell D for backup. However, they became aware that the humans had found them again. They made a run for it. And…” The messenger can feel someone behind him. But, when he looks, there’s no one there. “We didn’t find Cell D, Leader.”

“Impossible,” the Leader snaps. He forces himself not to look over the messenger’s head. The cave is protected. It is. “Cell D contained our strongest warriors. Our scouts reported only thirty of those bastards, they wouldn’t be overwhelmed.”

“I don’t think they were, Leader,” the messenger says. He wrings his hands. “We didn’t find any bodies. I think they were chased and--” his eyes flick to the others in the cave and he drops his voice to a whisper “--hunted.”

The word echoes in the cave, ruining the messenger’s efforts to keep his idea secret. The V’afinog under the Leader’s command come alive, screeching and hissing at the word.

“I knew it! The damned bugs hired predators--”

“We’re predators, these monsters are something else--”

“--shouldn’t have come, there’s a reason this galaxy was unexplored--”

“We’re dead, we’re so, so dead--”

“QUIET!” The Leader’s claws flex at his sides. “I won’t have superstition in my ranks! These monsters have no armor, no fangs, no claws. They need to eat, to drink, to rest. If the humans have taken out Cell D, they’ll be wounded and exhausted. This is our chance. We’ll use the cover of night to head back to the Station--”

“Who’s wounded and exhausted?”

The Leader feels as if he’s moving in slow motion. He turns and sees the horror on his Cell’s snouts, the tears finally falling from the messenger’s eyes, and then, at the mouth of the cave, a single, squishy monster.

The monster bears all its teeth. “I’ve had six Red Bulls and an espresso. I’m ready.”

There’s a low chuckle as another monster pushes through the vines that were supposed to hide them. “Now, now, Anika. Leave some for the rest of us.”

The Leader feels something in his mind snap. He reaches for the messenger and chucks him at the monsters. “Every V’afinog for themselves! Scatter!”

The Leader doesn’t wait for his soldiers to follow. He bets on his speed to get past the monsters. They’ve proven to be relatively slow and clumsy compared to them--

“God,” one monster says as he passes, “I sure do love it when they run.”

“I feel like a cat,” the other says. Its eyes track the Leader with surprising ease. “A cat chasing a mouse.”

The Leader plummets into the woods, mind numb with terror.

-------.

Far above the planet they’ve unleashed the humans on, Rahn stares at her four hands. “Is it done?”

Undan’s wings are tellingly still. “Not...not quite, ma’am. Steve says the Leader got away.”

“Got away or was allowed to get away?”

“I don’t think you want me to answer that.”

Rahn nods like she expected it. She stands from her command stool and walks to the observation window to stare at the planet below. “My predecessor once asked me what I would do if I found the unthinkable in space. She told me that in a universe of infinite possibilities, I had to be prepared to face true horrors given exoskeletons and wings. What do you think she would have done in my place? Finding a planet of mammalian predators who surpassed all known metrics of stamina, fixation and persistence?”

“Um…”

“She would have made sure no one made contact with that planet again,” Rahn continues grimly. She imagines for a moment that she’s the V’afinog leader, lost and alone in the woods as dozens of humans circle closer and closer. She shudders. “She would never have given them a chance to communicate. She would never have learned of the depths of their intellect. Or their compassion.”

“She would have been wrong to close that door,” Undan says, uncharacteristically bold. “The humans deserve to be in our federation, ma’am. No matter their origin or...characteristics.”

Rahn doesn’t look like she’s listening. She presses her antennae to the glass. “Does the ability to reason excuse the ability to annihilate? I still don’t know. Maybe if one of the V’afinog survives, they can tell us.”

The holo-pad in Undan’s hands beeps. His wings rub together in a nervous hum. “Um, sorry, ma’am. Looks like the Leader is dead.”

“Another unsolved mystery for the universe then,” Rahn says. She allows herself a moment of mourning and then turns away from the window. “The only choice left is to embrace this ‘friendship’ with the humans and pray that it is enough to spare us.”

Undan scuttles after her and decides not to mention that Steve dedicated the last kill to Undan’s future happiness.