The Vressian commander was having a very bad day. The human nomad fleet had turned his navy into floating metallic chaff that left streaks of fire across the sky as it deorbited. Now he was getting news that his ground forces were being obliterated by aerial bombardments and space based kinetic weapons.
"What would you do Lupo?" He asked his friend and lifelong companion. The orange furred canine-like creature looked up at the mention of its name and padded over to see what the commander wanted. It couldn't speak, but it was still intelligent enough to know something was wrong.
The commander was from the warrior caste, born and bred for battle. He had crawled over the corpses of his hundred siblings to get where he was today and suddenly as he looked into the jaws of defeat, none of it had been worth it. He would go down as a failure in whatever small history his people had left.
He looked at the sidearm laid out on his desk. Perhaps it was time for him to take a walk. One last walk with Lupo before he did what honor dictated.
A polite knock on the door broke his chain of thought. "Come in!" He bellowed, hiding the weapon in a drawer.
His attendant rushed in. "Sir, a human ambassador is here to see you."
He blinked in surprise. "Here, on Vressia? How?"
"We aren't sure." The attendant admitted. "She just appeared out of nowhere. One second I was looking over some documents and the next she was there across the desk from me asking for an audience with you. Only with you." He shifted awkwardly, scratching at the skin behind his pointed ear. "We didn't know what to do and she was unarmed so we brought her here. Will you see her?"
The commander looked at Lupo. The war was already lost and the humans had to know that. They were probably going to ask for his surrender, something that was not in his power to give. But he would see her all the same.
"Send her in, then leave us. Take the guards with you when you go. I do not wish to be disturbed." The commander said.
"But sir!" The attendant protested. "You safety is-"
"Unimportant." The commander cut him off. "If this human wishes me harm I will meet them as a warrior. If they only wish to talk, I will see them as a diplomat. Now send them in."
---
On a backwater planet in a prison near the ocean floor the warden was also not having the best of days. She whipped her tentacles back and forth with agitation. "Under no circumstances will the prisoner be released. That is final. I don't care if the order comes from the High Chancellor themselves."
"The High Chancellor has made it very clear that if you do not do what is asked you will be removed from your post and the prisoner will be pardoned." Replied the overseer. "However, if you grant this request the human will be returned to you for safekeeping by the end of the day."
The warden slumped in her tank. "They must think we're stupid. Once that thing is free there's no telling what it will do. We were lucky enough to contain it once, and to be honest I only think it stays in its cell because it chooses to."
"So what's the problem?" The overseer asked. "The humans are taking full responsibility for the prisoner and have guaranteed its return. They even left one of their ships as collateral."
It was useless to argue with the overseer. They didn't care that three generations of the warden's family had kept watch on the prisoner. They didn't care that it was on her to protect the species from the horrors that would be unleashed if it ever escaped.
"I will do as you ask, but I am issuing a formal protest." The warden said, her skin flushing pink with rage. "And believe me when I say that if the prisoner is not returned to me I will see that you take her place in my care."
The overseer waved a tentacle dismissively. "Yes of course, now do as you have been ordered and have the human made ready for transportation."
---
"Where is the fucking engineer?" Screamed the captain of the marauder as the power net on her ship threatened to collapse. The human convoy had looked like an easy target but the second they had attacked it the humans had responded with a barrage of torpedoes and warp based weaponry.
Six ships had been vaporized instantly. Everything else was crippled. Automatic repair protocols weren't working and the only propulsion her ship currently had was from the rapidly venting atmosphere.
"Engineering was hit badly, no life signs." Reported the officer to her right. "We're unable to self repair at this time. Best course of action is to launch escape pods and blow the drives to cover our retreat."
"Fuck!" The captain swore, her talons digging into the command chair. "Prep the pods for launch, use the ship as a shield to stop them from picking off the survivors." She felt a plan beginning to form.
"Angle the aft rail gun away from the convoy and disable the inertial damper. Prepare a max kinetic load to be fired on my mark then evacuate the ship." The captain ordered.
The gunner turned to her in horror. "But captain, the recoil…" Then he understood. "Yes captain. I will make it so."
There was a sound of tearing metal as something breached the hull. "We're being boarded!" Shouted the security officer.
The captain looked around at her crew. Surrender was not an option. Her only hope was to blow the drive and pray that escape pods from the other surviving ships made it out. "I'll see you all in paradise." She said as she started the self-destruct sequence.
---
The Vressian commander looked at the human. She was smaller than him but held herself with the calm poise of a warrior, not the greasy slickness of a diplomat. To think that these hairless primates had brought his entire civilization low was humbling.
"I have come to request a temporary ceasefire in honor of Remembrance day." The human explained. "As a representative of the Order of Saint Rachel I welcome you to take part in the festivities and guarantee that so long as the truce remains unbroken, you and your people will not be harmed."
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"And afterward?" The commander pressed. "What then?"
"That is up to you." The human shrugged. "Your people started this war, if you wish to continue it we will oblige. But not until after Remembrance day."
The commander leaned back in his chair, he could do a lot with a full day to prepare his troops. Not that it would matter in the end. The humans had him hopelessly outgunned. "And if we refuse?"
"You won't." The human replied.
"But if we do?" The commander pressed.
"The nomad fleet is going to bomb your population centers, destroy all agriculture and manufacturing, then when you think the worst of it is over they will release plagues upon you unlike anything you have ever seen before. After that they will leave you to your fate." The human reached down to pet Lupo. The acid beast was powerless to resist her and rumbled happily as she stroked its fur.
"That is the future of your species, no matter what you decide. It can't be avoided or stopped. Vressia will become a barren waste so toxic that future civilizations will quarantine it for fear that whatever happened here might spread." She sighed. "I wish it wasn't so, but your people will never accept peace, not until it's too late. Your leaders would rather doom an entire planet than surrender. But if you grant our request you will have one last day to do with as you choose, one last day in the sun."
The commander looked from the human to Lupo. "He seems to like you."
"I've always been good with animals." The human admitted. "Maybe better with animals than with people."
The commander thought about what the human had said. There was truth in her words, his people would never surrender, they were incapable of imagining defeat. Even now as his fleet burned the politicians were pretending that it was nothing more than a temporary setback.
"You will have your ceasefire." The commander decided. "But I would ask a favor, see that the acid beasts don't suffer for our mistakes. They don't deserve to share our fate."
The human nodded. "They will be spared, in honor of Remembrance day."
"In honor of Remembrance day." The commander repeated, his throat suddenly becoming dry as he realized that he was witnessing the end of his species.
---
The warden watched as the human prisoner was removed from its restraints. "I'm told that you are being granted temporary release for Remembrance day, whatever that is." The warden said.
Human prisoner Jones laughed as she rubbed her wrists where the shackles had held her. "You think it's some kind of trick. But no, I'll be back."
"What the fuck is Remembrance day?" The warden asked. "And why is it so important?"
"You wouldn't understand, you're not human." Jones replied. "But don't worry, once the day is over I'll be returned to my cell to serve out the rest of my sentence."
An unfamiliar human came to claim the prisoner. "Thank you for accommodating us." He said. "My name is Mike Moar. Jones will be under my care."
"Hey Mike!" Jones called through the bars, happy to see a familiar face. "How are my kids doing?"
"They're fine. Happily the current generation is less stab happy than the previous." He rubbed a spot on his ribs. "Mostly."
The warden looked at Mike with surprise. "She has children? This horrible creature is a mother?"
"Yes, and if you think your job is hard keeping her locked up, imagine trying to look after dozens of huge carnivorous lizards that share her DNA." He shuddered. "I love them like my own children but they're a bit much."
"Awe." Jones sighed. "You're a good uncle."
The warden processed this information for a moment. "You mean to tell me that…" She trailed off. "You know what, just take her. I don't even want to know."
"That's usually for the best as far as Jones is concerned." Mike agreed. "The less you know about her, the better."
---
The marauder captain waited for the explosion. And waited some more. Eventually she realized that the drive had been disabled somehow.
"Fuck." She swore.
A human voice came over the ship intercom. "In honor of Remembrance day we would like to invite you to our ship for refreshments and festivities. Attendance is not required, however all hostilities must cease until the end of the day."
The crew looked at each other in confusion. There had to be a glitch in the translation software. As if they were reading her mind the human continued. "This is not a translation error. Your life support systems will be repaired and your ship will be towed to a friendly port. Thank you for your understanding."
The communications officer was the first to speak. He looked at the captain with shock and confusion. "What in the name of Great Sorrow is Remembrance day?"
---
All across the galaxy humans came together for Remembrance day. Some in small parties, others in grand celebrations. They drank their poisonous beverages and ate their toxic foodstuffs. They sang and celebrated what it was to be human. For one twenty four hour period no war was waged, no prisoner was bound, and all was good.
The Vressian commander watched from his position on the bridge of the nomad flagship. He had come with the human to join the festivities, Lupo in tow.
"Why so sad?" The human female ambassador asked. Then she saw that he was looking out the viewport at his planet below. "Oh."
"Yes. I'm still processing what is about to happen to my planet and my people." He looked at the paper plate in his hand. It contained some kind of sweetened pastry the humans had referred to as cake. It wasn't to his liking but Lupo seemed to be enjoying his portion. Frosting covered the acid beast's face and once the cake was gone he started eating the plate.
The human shrugged. "It's not your fault. It's just the result of things that were put into motion elsewhere coming to their inevitable conclusion. I wouldn't blame you if you decided to go down swinging."
"There's no point." The commander set down his cake in front of Lupo. "After today is done I'll go on one last walk and blow my brains out all over the sunset."
"How poetic." The human looked him over. "I suppose there is honor in that. Or at least some modicum of control to be regained."
"Indeed." The commander looked down at the humans partying below. Tomorrow when the ceasefire was inevitably broken they would burn his planet, but today they were just people enjoying themselves. "How does it end? The celebration, I mean."
"We scream." The human said. "Every single human left alive screams, all at once, no matter where we are. Nobody knows how, but we all feel it at the same time, the urge to scream until our throats are sore. It might only come once a century, or once a millennium, but we all feel it."
"Why?" The commander asked.
"Loss." The human said with a mournful sigh. "We scream for what we lost. We scream because the universe isn't fair. We scream because if we don't let it all out, that hatred we feel will turn inward and consume us. And if we give in to that hatred the universe will burn. So instead we scream." She took him by the hand. "You should join us."
"Will it make me feel better?" The commander asked.
The human shrugged. "It always works for me."
The commander shook his head. "Fucking humans." He said.
---
After the day was done and Jones was safely returned to her cage the warden breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed in her tank. If the human had escaped that would have been very very bad. But everything seemed to have ended alright and now the warden could take a much deserved rest.
A tapping noise on the outside of the tank woke up the warden. She opened one eye to see a gigantic blue crested reptilian creature standing over her. "Grandma Jones forgot her stuff on the ship." It said, "It's nothing dangerous, just some letters from the other kids. Do you mind if I bring them to her?"
The warden flicked a tentacle back and forth with annoyance. "Sure. Knock yourself out."
The reptile bowed and disappeared from sight like a ghost. Apparently it had some form of advanced stealth technology.
The warden probably should have called for the guards but then she would have had to explain how the creature had managed to breach a maximum security prison without setting off a single alarm. And like Mike had said, the less she knew about Jones the better. Besides, the creature had asked nicely.
"Fucking humans." The warden cursed before going back to sleep.
---
The crew of the marauder ship considered their next moves as their weaponless ship was towed into port behind the human convoy. Technically they weren't under arrest yet but they were pretty screwed.
The captain adjusted the paper party hat on her head and rubbed her temples in an attempt to relieve the worst of her hangover.
"Fucking humans." She cursed.