"For the good of the galaxy as a whole, I condemn you and your species to death." The Limissian overseer calmly announced from inside his glass cage. Scourge death-stalkers clicked their mandibles angrily as they circled the clear cylinder looking for a way in.

Normally it would have been easy for them to connect with the space station's computer and override the controls, Scourge were technopaths after all. But there didn't seem to be anything for them to interface with.

The Admin clapped both sets of hands together in mock applause as he stepped towards the glass. "Well done. I take it this clockwork station of yours is part of how you intend to enact that execution."

"It is." Confirmed the old and tired Overseer, the golden symbols that were braided into his gray fur glinting as he spoke. "I wanted something you would never see coming. Something you couldn't hack your way into or take over. Tell me, have you realized the function of this facility yet?"

To his great frustration, the Admin had not. Everything from the climate control to the airlocks was analog which meant he was essentially blind. Whatever the Limissians were hiding here it was either incredibly low tech or impossibly well shielded.

"I'm sure it's devastating." The Admin laughed mockingly. "You know, I've heard similar threats before and somehow nothing ever comes of them."

"It's not a threat." Sighed the Overseer. "I wish it were just a threat. I could turn back if it was just a threat. If it was, I could go home and be with my wife and children. Instead I'm standing here passing sentence on you."

"How noble." The Admin consulted his tactical feed. Ninety percent of his fleet was within the system and the other ten percent would be arriving shortly. "Can you give me a clue as to how you expect to carry out the punishment? Because every ship you have is cowering behind your planet's shields… and that doesn't speak much as to your confidence or ability."

"They're good shields, aren't they?" Asked the Overseer smugly.

"Surprisingly, yes. I was unaware your species had that level of technology… but once the rest of the fleet arrives and we break through it won't matter much. Your people will be eaten and your tech will be catalogued." The Admin tapped a black talon on the glass. "And you get to watch from inside your pretty little cage."

"Watch your ships burn, you mean?" The Overseer pulled a lever and the glass wall retracted into the floor leaving him face to face with the Admin. "You Scourge believe that you're so superior to other beings because you love war. You look down on us that enjoy peace because you believe it is weakness. But I am here to disabuse you of that notion."

Lightning quick he drew an antique human revolver and fired a shot into each of the death-stalkers, striking the weak spot at the base of the throat where armor met helmet. It didn't penetrate, but the force of the bullet was like a punch to the throat.

The Scourge soldiers fell to the ground struggling to breathe, clawing at their broken windpipes. Calmly the Overseer walked past the Admin and stomped down with a hoof on the closest death-stalker's helmet like he was squishing a bug, which in a way, he was.

The Admin watched in fascination as the Overseer pulped the two death-stalkers. For a herbivore he was quite savage.

The Overseer holstered his pistol and turned back toward the Admin. "For all you have done, for all I know you will do if you're not stopped, I still do not wish to kill you."

Wearily he put a hand on the Admin's shoulder. "Unfortunately, I don't always get what I want. Come with me to the observation deck and we will watch whatever happens together."

The Admin decided to humor this obviously delusional Limissian. After all, it wasn't like he was in any real danger. He could reincarnate at will and new bodies were plentiful. Benefits of a technologically advanced species that had conquered death.

The observation deck had two chairs, one designed for a Limissian and the other for a Scourge. "You expected us to find you?" Asked the Admin.

"I had hoped you might." The Overseer settled down wearily. "It's a tradition that the one who passes a sentence of death must look the accused in the face and carry out the punishment. Anything else invites tyranny and cowardice."

Admin looked out the window at the perfect sphere of blackness that encircled the Limissian homeworld. Not so much as a single photon could get in or out so long as their shields stayed up. It would take the full combined firepower of his entire fleet to crack their defenses… but all the same the planet would fall.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

So why was this herbivore so sure that it wouldn't? And how could he be so calm knowing that his entire species was about to go extinct when it did? The Admin cracked his jaw in frustration. Was this being crazy or just delusional?

"Don't worry about me." The Overseer said. "I see your confusion. Perhaps you even believe I have gone senile in my old age."

"The thought had crossed my mind." The Admin admitted. "You're really not afraid, are you?"

"Of you? Of the scourge? No." The Overseer pulled a wooden box out of his pocket. "We made provisions to evacuate the planet when we heard you were coming. Besides, you're just mindless hunger, no real malice in you. I can't even bring myself to hate you. It would be like being mad at flames for being hot."

The overseer took a stick of incense from the box and lit it, the smoke curled around him as he said a prayer for the souls of the Scourge.

"Enough of this pathetic theater." The Admin hissed, keying up a command for his fleet to fire on the planet. "It is time for you to face reality."

Missiles and laser based weapons rained down on the shield, coating it in a layer of fire.

It seemed to have no effect until without warning the shield rippled and fell. But there was no planet, no Limissian ships, no food for the scourge. All that was there was a single shield generator which self destructed before he could interface with it

"How? We saw your planet, chased your ships behind the shield…" The Admin consulted his data. "Now there's nothing."

"Like I said, we made provisions to evacuate the planet." Replied the Overseer. "You didn't think I would leave my people behind to be eaten, did you?"

"How?!" Screamed the Admin. "How do you have the technology to move an entire planet?"

"I'm told it has something to do with quantum." Replied the Overseer. "I'm sure one of the humans could explain it to you better than I can. I'm really more of an administrator than a scientist."

A warning flashed across the Admin's mind as a ship's sensors detected a surge of energy somewhere within the sun.

"Are you familiar with the humans?" Asked the Overseer. "I was still a youngling when I met my first one. Fascinating creatures… truly unique in the universe. I invited them to share a home with us here on Limissia."

A cascade had started within the sun and it began to visibly pulse. "You've wasted our time and resources, but you haven't saved your people." The Admin commanded his fleet to spool up their drives and make an emergency jump into the warp. "We will find them eventually."

"No. You won't." The Overseer informed him. "When we jumped our planet into the warp it disrupted local spacetime. That means no faster than light travel or communication."

Admin snarled in frustration. Something was interfering with the drives on his ships. Perhaps this Limissian was telling the truth. "We still have sub-light capabilities. It might take us a hundred years, but we'll still make it out."

"No, you won't." The Overseer repeated. "That sun is about to destroy itself in an artificially boosted supernova. Minimum safe distance is nearly fifty light years. There's no way to get out in time."

The Admin looked out the observation window at his magnificent fleet and felt a sudden pang of fear. The sun was pulsing faster now.

"You see, we've heard about your kind." Continued the Overseer. "We knew that if we didn't do something about you countless other worlds would suffer. So while we eliminate your ships the human Nomad fleet is glassing your homeworld."

The Admin turned in surprise and horror. "You wouldn't…"

"By now, we already have." The Overseer said solemnly. "We had to, because nobody else would. Tell me, have you figured out what this facility is for yet?"

The Admin racked his brain and while he was distracted the Overseer drew his blade and plunged it into the Admin's stomach, lifting the Scourge up off his feet with the sheer force of the blow.

The Admin tried to jump into a new host but the gravimetric interference was making it impossible to form a connection.

"It was bait." The Overseer whispered. "I knew if I built something you couldn't hack or control your curiosity would get the better of you. I knew your would come in person." He twisted the knife hard to free it and threw the Admin down onto the ground. "After that all I had to do was wait until the interference from the planet jump disabled your ability to switch bodies."

The Admin scrambled backwards, green blood leaking freely from the horrific wound in his abdomen. "You'll die too." He rasped.

"You warlike species always make such a big deal about death." The Overseer drew his revolver and leveled it at the Admin. "What do you really have to live for anyway? If you conquered the universe tomorrow, would you be happy? Would you stop? Or would you turn inward and murder your own kind until there was nothing left but a dead husk of what could have been?"

He pulled the trigger, felt the recoil as the lead and copper bullet smashed through the Admin's visor. "Fuck you." He said to the corpse at his feet. "Fuck you for making me do this and fuck you for making it necessary."

The Overseer collapsed back in his chair. The sun was flickering now, moments away from a supernova. He thought about his wife and children and how much his heart hurt knowing that he would never see them again.

In that moment he would have given anything to tousle his son's hair. Or to take just one more walk in the agridomes with his wife. He wanted to run with his hounds and smoke funny human herbs with his friends until the sun rose. But instead he was here, doing his last duty as Overseer and protecting his people.

He closed his eyes and cultivated peace within himself. The Overseer would not go with hate or anger in his heart. He would leave this plane of existence filled with love for his family and his people. It truly had been a wonderful life and he was thankful for every moment of it.