A lone human sat alone on a bench, a rather stuffed backpack nearby with something bulging out one side. He was gruff, like he’d seen things not many got to see. And he was thankful that they didn’t. He was absent minded, thoughts drifting as he sat there. The Conglomerate planet had cautiously accepted the human through their immigration system under the guise that he was a technician for a fuel company.
He was disturbed from his thoughts by a boisterous young K’zik, who had sauntered over.
“How did humanity fall?” He asked. His species had fought with them for a short time just before the razing of Earth.
“Nothing like they show on the vids.” Came a gruff reply from the human, complete with a begrudging huff. He didn’t like talking about it.
“How did it start?” He asked, maintaining the topic.
“The Conglomerate cited some old bullshit about territorial claims hundreds of years ago. They propped up one small claim in court, used it as a basis to march off to war, and so it began. Five planets, including Terra, all under our control. We fought them hard. In the depths of space, we fought them through the fields and the towns of each planet. Struck hard and struck fast. For every one of our losses, we made them pay fortyfold. Such is the price of offensive war.”
“But the Conglomerate said you attacked first.” The child protested. Its parent, now seeing the child discussing with the human, called its name.
“We did. Forward defense we call it, you’ll learn about it in your conscription. We lost that battle, and we lost the planet after that, exterminated everyone on there out of respite and fear of uprising. You’re bright enough to be asking these questions, you’ll probably make officer.” He grinned, suddenly switching topics.
Nearby, emergency crews raced towards points of interest all across the cities. Something about strange packages.
“What was it like?” He asked once more. His parent began to saunter over, fearing the human’s words. The Conglomerate listened to everything. The three chief species in it held a tight grip of power of their populaces.
“Scary.” He responded. “Growing up, we weren’t sure if we would even survive the war, it was a war for survival as a united force at best, our survival as a species at worst. You won’t know what its like to live each day in fear, live each day wondering if it is your last. I only fought for Earth as a young boy, fighting for my town’s militia. It was a beautiful day when they attacked, a beautiful day… My Mother was baking back home while I was out on maneuvers. The skies were blue, the leaves changing colors as autumn drew closer. It was poetic irony at its finest.” He drifted off shortly, remembering the fateful day.“We got word of the space battle about an hour before they landed. And with us as a small population center in the middle of nowhere, we were a great place to pick off. We set up our positions, but we knew it was futile. We fought anyways, but our positions fell one by one as the majority of the invading ships punched through our meager lines. We were a new species, only having a remedial military. But we made them pay. I was the only one who escaped out of the entire town of a little under fifty thousand. Five hundred men died, and not one escaped the city in time. If only I could have saved one instead of myself…“ The child was unphased.
“But why did humanity fall?” He asked once more.
Off in the distance, explosions rocked the city.
Great spires collapsed down onto the Conglomerate federal offices below. The human grinned, and opened his backpack, which concealed a small projectile rifle and a large satchel containing an array of ammunition. Chambering the small round, he looked down at the child, whose parent stood in the background, shocked in fear.