Awe is a powerful feeling. For something to be so grand as to inspire respect, devotion and envy is a rarity in the galaxy. On such a short list, the Flarian Royal armada was at the very top. No other species could rival the might of their military. Despite being known on the galactic scene as kind and benevolent rulers of one of the biggest Empires to ever exist, their methods of expansion were anything but biophilic. They had a big stick and were not opposed to using it.

  ***

  “Captain, we will be approaching the Zeta sector in 1 minute.” Said the navigator.

  The captain, an imposing Flarian female seated in her command chair, simply nodded without so much a word.

  As the ship exited hyperspace, the captain rose from her seat.

  “Search the database for any active outposts. We are in dire need of supplies.”

  “Ma’am, this territory is outside Flarian jurisdiction. All planets in this sector are under human rule. And considering their standing with the Empire, I doubt they will willingly offer their supplies.” Orvina responded, looking over at the captain.

  “We do not require their willingness, Vice Captain.” Nubela replied in a cold tone, her lips curling into a barely visible smirk.

  “We are thousands of light years away from the heart of human controlled space. Even if we weren’t, those cowards would never dare fire a single shot at a Flarian Destroyer class ship.”

  “The scanners have detected an outpost, Captain.” The navigator spoke while turning his head towards Nubela.

  “We will be within communication range with the outpost in 10 seconds.”

  The ship began slowing down, stopping fully just before the lower atmosphere of the rocky moon. Captain Nubela approached the main panel, looking through the blast proof glass down at the yellow surface where the colony was.

  “Hail them.” She ordered, adjusting her uniform a tad.

  Within seconds a screen appeared, stretched across one of the glass panels. Nubela raised an eyebrow at the sight of a withered old face of a human woman looking back at her.

  “Greetings. I am captain Nubela Argrath of the Royal Flarian Destroyer “Solar Echo”. Who am I speaking to?”

  The old woman simply looked at Nubela for a moment, a look that stirred something in the captain. There was no fear, worry or surprise on the human’s face. Just a look of tiredness, as if the Flarians were nothing more than unwelcome chore after a particularly long and gruelling workday.

  “Well?!” Hissed the Captain, her two long and bony tails smacking the ship floor in annoyance.

  “Apologies. The comms system is quite old. Takes a bit to load the feed.” Spoke the woman on the other side, slowly fiddling with the keyboard.

  “Ah, there we go. Hello.”

  “Hello.” Grumbled Nubela, before repeating her question.

  “Who. Might I. Be speaking. To?”

  The human cleared her throat, getting ready to answer. She looked so old that Nubela half expected clouds of dust to come out of her mouth. That thought brought the smirk back on her face for a brief moment.

  “I am Tomyris, the Head of the Kalibash mining colony. To what do we owe this pleasant surprise?”

  “We are in dire need of supplies and request that you allow us to descend on the surface and acquire some from your settlement.” Replied the captain.

  “I am afraid that would not be possible, Captain. You see, Kalibash is not a part of the major supply routes. Most of our supplies are from the crops we grow ourselves.” Tomyris replied, shaking her head slowly, as if disappointed that she can’t help the Flarian in their plight.

  “We will judge if that is true or false.” Nubela frowned.

  “A squad and myself will be descending to your colony within the hour. Your words better be true.”

  With that the communication was cut, leaving Nubela with the satisfaction of having the final word. She turned on her heels and walked back to her seat.

  “Anchor the vessel here and prepare a squad for deployment.”

  “Captain.” Vice Captain Orvina spoke up.

  “I request to come with you to the moon’s surface.”

  The captain shot her a quizzical look.

  “For what reason?”

  “I… I have never seen a human ma’am. I’ve only heard stories of them in academy classes.”

  Replied Orvina.

  Nubela scrounged her face up in disgust at the sight of someone being so curious and excited about lower life forms.

  “Consider your eyes lucky then. These creatures are nothing to marvel at.”

  After a brief pause she sighed and continued.

  “But very well, Vice Captain. If you wish to test how well you can hold your lunch, who am I to stop you?”

  “Thank you.” Orvina replied with a smile and returned to her duties.

  ***

  The settlers went about their work, trying their best to ignore the Flarian shuttle that just lander at the entrance to their outpost. Even the farthest-reaching outposts of the Galactic Union knew of the Empire’s warmongering ways. Wherever they appeared, bad news followed. It was for that reason that Vice Captain Orvina was not surprised that the settlers did their best to avoid the soldiers that arrived.

  As hard as she tried, seeing them the same way Captain Nubela did was difficult. They certainly seemed unimposing, that much was true, but what species didn’t when compared to the Flarians? She even found them somewhat endearing. They were like half of a Flarian. One pair of arms, one pair of forward-facing eyes, half the size and height. Both species were mammalian, though humans seemed to lack any form of tail or fur… or claws. Even their jaws lacked any sharp teeth.

  “I guess I can understand why Captain Nubela considers them lower lifeforms. They seem so… soft. More like pets than predators.” Orvina thought to herself.

  The group walked through the outpost, leaving foot prints in the yellowish mud, heading straight to the main building. Halfway there, an old woman walked outside of the facility and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. Nubela snarled, voicing her displeasure of having to be surrounded by these creatures to the rest of the squad.

  Up close Tomyris seemed even more like a dried-up apple than she did over the communication feed. Her grey hair was short curls that stopped at her shoulders. The uniform she wore fit her loosely. Orvina could bet both her right arms that the Head of the Kalibash colony was the smallest specimen of her species present on the moon.

  “Hi there. How do you like our little piece of Heaven?” Tomyris asked, extending her hand upwards to shake with the Flarian captain.

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  “I’d hardly call this paradise.” Nubela replied, looking down on the old human, who’s height barely reached past the captain’s belt. With her smaller arm, Nubela reached down and shook the woman’s hand.

  “Excuse me?” Orvina raised her larger arm above her head to catch the human’s attention.

  “What’s with all the carved tree trinkets?”

  “Oh, those?” Tomyris smiled.

  “People here like to carve those little totems and trinkets as a pastime. Some believe it helps the crops grow and the harvest to be more plentiful. Like blessings of a sort.”

  Nubela let out a low growl.

  “You’ve unlocked interstellar travel yet you still cling to such superstitions. Only the weak rely on a mysterious higher power.”

  The old woman simply chuckled, waving the massive Flarian captain off dismissively.

  “Oh, pish. It’s a piece of culture. If it helps them feel more at home by making trinkets that remind them of life on Earth, who am I to spoil their fun?”

  She looked up at Orvina and winked.

  “And if some mysterious higher power likes the woodwork enough to toss us a few potatoes more per harvest, I sure ain’t complaining.”

  The Vice Captain smiled at the woman’s joke. All their flaws aside, the humans definitely had a certain appeal.

  Slowly the old woman turned around and headed inside the main facility, which doubled as her home. She moved slowly, using a wooden cane for support.

  The inside of her home was the standard outpost interior design, however decorated with various colourful knitted cloths, carved trinkets that hung on string and would jingle every time someone opened the door or a draft blew through the room. A mixture of yellows, greens, oranges and browns made the interior very pleasant, a stark contrast to the metallic grey of the Flarian Destroyer vessel. Orvina had a hard time describing the feeling she was getting from the old woman’s living quarters, it all felt uniquely Earthy.

  “Sit. Would you like some tea? I’d offer you coffee, but we’ve run out of that a couple of weeks ago.” Tomyris said, motioning to the table.

  “Pass.” The Flarian captain shut her offer down sharply.

  “Do not try to worm your way out of accepting our request by using hospitality, woman. I’ve told you what we need.”

  The human sighed.

  “And I have told you we cannot help you. We barely have enough for ourselves. No chance we can supply an entire Destroyer class vessel and have anything left to tie us over until the crops mature.”

  “I. Wasn’t. Asking.” Nubela growled, baring her sharp teeth to the old woman, tails smacking the ground behind the captain, a common show of annoyance and aggression among Flarians.

  “Nan!” A shout came from behind the human, interrupting the captain before she could say another word.

  “Nan!”

  “I’m in here, darling.” Tomyris shouted back over her shoulder.

  A human male emerged from one of the rooms. He towered over the elderly woman as he approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her. The Flarians were slightly taken aback by how strange he was dressed. His uniform, a standard yellow and black colonial attire, was decorated by an assortment of items, ranging from feather and small animal bones to carved wooden trinkets. A long coat was draped over his shoulders, no less decorated than his uniform. Wooden chimes hung from it, jangling as he walked. The unusual appearance was tied together by a Grumlag skull he wore on his bald head, its antlers rising upwards.

  “Who’s that?” Orvina couldn’t help but ask.

  The male looked at her, his face dirty and beard caked in mud. Something was off about him. He was an adult by the looks of it. The uniform hugged his body tightly, revealing strong muscles beneath. But his eyes were dull and the look he gave the Flarians was filled with childlike curiosity.

  “What did I tell you about wearing than thing on your head?” Tomyris sighed, taking the skull of her grandson’s head with one hand and giving the back of his head a light smack with the other.

  “Sorry, Nan.” He replied, looking down at his feet shamefully.

  “The boys and I were just playing Beast and-.”

  The old woman sighed, putting the Grumlag skull on the table next to her.

  “Alright, alright. Go wash up, it’s time for lunch and you’re all muddy.”

  The man just nodded and walked towards another door, sneaking glances over his shoulder at the aliens in his living room.

  “What are you looking at, dullard?” One of the soldiers hissed, causing the human to quickly look away.

  “I apologize for my grandson.” Tomyris spoke with a sad look on her face.

  “He is a good boy, just… not all there.”

  The Flarian captain opened her mouth to speak but the Vice Captain cut her off again, unable to contain her curiosity.

  “How old is he?”

  “Twenty-eight. Lost his parents in a mining accident when he was four. With no next of kin, I’ve been taking care of him ever since.” The Head of the colony replied.

  “Poor soul.” Orvina thought to herself, knowing words of pity should never be spoken in Nubela’s presence.

  Such specimens would never survive to adulthood in Flarian society. Defects of the mind were no less frowned upon than defects of the body. Unlike Orvina, the captain felt herself becoming more disgusted with every minute she spent on Kalibash, surrounded by inferiority on all sides.

  “Ugh. Where were we?” Nubela spoke.

  “The supplies.” Tomyris answered. The two locked eyes and the Flarian captain already knew that the woman did not change her answer to their request.

  “How much do you need?”

  “Enough to lasts us to Umlaut sector.”

  “Impossible. We can provide you with enough to last you to the next outpost in Zeta sector.”

  Nubela frowned, taking an intimidating step towards the human.

  “We are at war. On a journey of conquest for the glory of the Flarian Empire. You think I have the time to hop from outpost to outpost like I’m going grocery shopping?”

  The elderly woman stood her ground, defiance burning in her eyes as she stared the captain down, despite the obvious difference in height.

  “I told you. We barely have enough for ourselves. I will NOT risk the lives of this community to feed your soldiers or fuel your battles.”

  Her anger was reaching a boiling point, Nubela could hardly contain the desire to tear the human limb from wrinkled limb. She placed her huge hand on the old woman’s head.

  “I’ve seen your community and came to a conclusion of my own. You do not have a shortage of food; you have a surplus of useless bellies to feed. Perhaps we should help you achieve more efficient numbers. Feeding the elderly and feeble minded, what a waste of supplies.”

  “Captain.” Orvina grabbed her captain by the bicep, feeling Nubela’s muscles softly flex as she prepared to begin rearrangement of the colony, starting with the head of the settlements leader.

  “Leave Nan alone, Beast.” Came from the captain’s left side.

  Tomyri’s grandson had returned, appearing next to his grandmother in a flash, knocking the chairs over in his dash from the bathroom to the centre of the living room, fist raised.

  “Tarnuk, NO!” The elderly woman yelled, but it was too late.

  The smirk on Nubela’s face was erased in a fraction a second, as the man’s right fist connected full force with the left side of her face. Even though he was punching over his shoulder, the sound of the impact caught the Flarians by surprise.

  “Fuck, the idiot put his entire bodyweight into that swing.” Nubela thought as her head whipped to the right.

  The Vice Captain stared in absolute shock, along with the rest of their squad, as the captain lost her balance and took a single step back to regain it. A single step. She never thought anything except another Flarian could cause the war forged Nubela Argrath to stagger on her feet.

  Just as fast as she was hit, Nubela clenched the larger of her two right fists and swung back on the human. He raised both arms to block the impact. The Flarian held nothing back, putting all the frustration that had accumulated since they arrived on Kalibash into a single punch.

  The man staggered, taking two steps back to regain his balance.

  Orvina could see the surprise briefly flash across the captain’s face when the colony leader’s grandson didn’t move back more than two steps. Nubela straightened her posture, letting her arms drop to her side. She huffed, exhaling all the air from her lungs before taking a long inhale. This brief altercation seemed to help vent her frustration a bit.

  “You’d made a great soldier if you weren’t a mentally stunted animal.” She said to Tarnuk, who was still staring daggers at her.

  At that moment, the rest of the squad snapped back to reality, the realization that their captain was just decked across her face finally setting in. They quickly approached the human, ready to end him for that transgression, when Tomyris put herself in their path.

  “Enough!” the old woman said, looking over at the captain.

  “Take what you want and fuck off. The sooner we see the end of you, the better.”

  Nubela smirked triumphantly, turning on her heels and heading for the door, motioning her squad to follow. The Vice Captain was the last to follow, watching as the human went from a courageous man defending his grandmother to a bawling boy in an instant.

  “Grannyyy! I was so scared.” Tarnuk hugged Tomyris as she comforted him.

  Orvina felt strangely guilty. These people weren’t their enemies, they weren’t even allied with the foe they were sailing across the stars to fight.

  “I…” At the same time, she felt strangely speechless. They just robbed these people, left them to die. What can she say to soothe the unfamiliar feeling tying her guts into a knot?

  “What game were you playing with your friends?” She finally found her voice, taking a step closer to the pair and bending over slightly to meet the man at eye level.

  Tarnuk looked at her, wiping the tears from his face with his sleeve.

  “Beast and Farmers.” He replied.

  “Oh, and how do you play that?”

  Almost like a switch was flipped, the man’s demeanour changed from being sad to being excited to talk about his favourite game.

  “Well. Whoever wears the Grumlag skull is the Beast, the rest are the Farmers. The Farmers have to hide and run from the Beast. Whoever is touched first by the Beast, has to put on the skull and then he is the beast and has to continue searching for the others.”

  “Sounds fun. And it ends when there are no more players who the Beast can give the skull to?” Orvina asked, not being able to help smiling.

  “Uh-huh. Then the Beast eats itself and the game starts again. Well, if Nan doesn’t call me to eat lunch.” He nodded.

  A loud beep interrupted her next question. She straightened up and sighed, turning her attention to Tomyris, who looked at her with absolute disdain.

  “Duty calls. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I hope you guys can somehow manage.”

  The words felt hollow, bringing no satisfaction. They just condemned this outpost to die of starvation. No apology or well-wishing could mediate that.