We should have seen it coming. The signs were there, but like all Imperial overlords that came before us, we ignored them, thinking ourselves above such trivialities. And that, just like history shows, ended up being our downfall.

But I am getting ahead of myself. My name is Lord Treibathu of the militant branch of the Glornak empire, commander of the vast forces under our military control, and about to die under the hands of our latest subjugated species.

It started as it always did. We arrived in orbit, presented our unfair and demeaning demands, got rejected, sent the invasion army, and crushed their armies in less than a month. in a matter of 3, the entire species was under our control. A new addition to the slave stocks, they had ascended from primates, giving them great flexibility, strength, and most important of all, adaptability. They could adapt to any situation, any environment.

Their biology made them priceless, and as a result, we started demanding more of them. Always more. More hours worked higher production quotas, less time spent on rest and rejuvenation, harder work, more dangerous work. We kept demanding, and they kept delivering. Sure, the occasional slave was having a breakdown or trying to start a local rebellion, but that was always crushed before it even became a dream.

Oh, how we should have seen the signs. As with all things, it started small. A defiant look before complying with orders, a combative stance when confronted with critique over their work, and the way the other primates didn't look away in fear when one of them was subjected to physical punishment, of which they could take extreme amounts.

Nobody knows what started the Terran primate's rebellion, but I was there, at ground zero, when we made the worst choice we could have ever made. They had been rioting for hours, freeing more Terrans from bondage while equipping themselves with any makeshift weapon they could scavenge or create. The creativity of those primates is truly astounding. They looted stores and burned down vehicles that had been hauled into position to create makeshift barriers, effectively turning the downtown area of the city into a fortified city center with checkpoints and roaming bands of "guards" bearing down on anything and anyone Glornak with murderous intentions. By the ancestors, the horrors I have witnessed our people suffer at the hands of these savage slaves.

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We thought, as one would be compelled to do, that the strict gun control ownership that left only peacekeeping and military personel in possession of weapons would make a difference when we ordered the Terrans put down to restore order. It seemed to work at first, the mixed lines of soldiers and peacekeepers marched into the Terran-controlled area and started firing indiscriminately, the primates dropping in alarming numbers while they fled as fast as they could. We thought they had done like any other rebellion and dispersed.

We were wrong.

It started as a slight rumble in the ground. Nobody understood what it was, but we soon heard the sound. The stunning sound of thousands upon thousands of beings, screaming and roaring in righteous anger as they charge ahead. And then we saw them.

Turning a corner came first a few Terrans, their faces twisted into masks of hate murder. Had they been the only ones to come at us, it would have been almost comical to watch. But as we stared in awe at this suicidal charger, the flow of primates started trickling around the corner, dozens turning into hundreds, hundreds turning into thousands. We stared as a tide of bodies that kept growing started flowing toward us. And we started firing. The last mistake we made.

If we had any sense, we would have dropped to our knees and begged for a quick death. But we started firing. When the first body hit the ground, a shudder went through the enormous crowd. And they picked up the pace.

The suicidal apes increased their running speed! I lack the words to stress the insanity of this action, but as you can imagine, the result when they reached us was anything but what we could have wished for.

I watched my fellow soldiers have their limbs torn off by the combined strength of several of these primates, only to be beaten to death with their severed limbs. I saw Terrans stare into the eyes of the ones they killed, as they dragged their improvised cutting tools through the still-living bodies, smiling like they had been granted their deepest desire in this life. I saw them turn from the dead bodies once they had mutilated them enough. And they all stared at me. So I ran. I ran and hid in my secured office.

It's only a matter of time before they find a way in. Their time in servitude has shown us just how clever they are. And when they do, it is not going to be pretty. But I won't let them have it their way. I am going to unlock the door and blow my head off. Nice and quick.

How do you stop an enemy spurred into action by the death of their comrades? How do you ask forgiveness for 90 of their years in slavery? How do you stem the tide that is the sea of willing bodies of Terra?

I can hear something in the vents. I leave this to you, High Ethereal, to deal with. I have chambered my last round. For the Empire!