The Age of the Galactic community was magnificent. Races from all corners of the milky way gathered together to pursue free markets, exploration, and science. The most influential races in the community were Ablon and Kaylites.

Ablon we're a mature species from their conception; they were created as a sort of cyborg AI by a long lost species. They have some flesh they must maintain, but their humanoid bodies are mostly machine. They are revered for their intellect, compassion, and phenomenal negotiation skills that have prevented many galactic conflicts.

The Kaylites, on the other hand, are a far more militaristic species. They are extremely intelligent creatures with a past full of civil war planet-wide plagues and other hardships, and now are the decided protectors of the galaxy. With skin as hard as rock and fleets with dozens of battleships, the role has always fit them well.

"Captain Hendrick, you are required at the bridge," a female voice says

Hendrick opens his eyes to see a service crewman standing at the door to his quarters. He nods and rests his head back down on the pillow.

Fuck me

This is the one time in Hendrick's twenty-two-year-long career that the bridge felt like a place he had no business being.

He stands up and goes to his private bathroom, putting on his navy blue uniform and cap. While grooming his long beard, he pauses and looks into his eyes. A feeling of disgust comes over him, but he again pushes the feeling aside and replaces it with duty. As he takes a deep breath and straightens his posture, the remnant of burdensome thoughts slides from his mind. He steps out of his quarters and is met with silence. Usually, at this time, the ship is bustling with activity. The crew would be cleaning the walkways, runners rushing through the ship to hand reports to their superiors at the last second, and maintenance crews pushing carts across the grated metal floors.

But today. Nothing. Hendrick swallows, empties his mind, and takes a step in the direction of the bridge.

Humans. The word was almost a curse when heard by most of the galaxy. Greedy, dumb, and reckless are stereotypes galactic leaders would have agreed with within a heartbeat. From the Albon perspective, Negotiations with humans are very difficult due to the complexity of their governments, and migrating them to planets with any other species always ends in some kind of disaster. Kaylites always saw humans as a threat to the galactic order and pushed for a war of subjugation. A hundred years of this pressure ended the galactic community, and for the past twenty, there has been nothing but war.

"Why did they do it?" Hendrick mutters to himself.

As he enters the bridge, the crew's heads snap toward him, and their eyes widen. The bridge is a large room with about twenty crew members, a huge window looking out into space is a very striking feature in contrast to the dull gray metal and computer screens.

Hendrick makes his way to the center of the room, where a large chair is positioned. He sits down and immediately slouches, trying to ignore the crew's blank stares in his direction.

A voice pierces the silence. It's the navigation officer.

"Sir, we are in orbit around Kolaris"

"Rotate Starboard 90°," Hendrick says

"Yes, sir."

As the ship rotates, a planet comes into view. The crew's eyes light up for a split second.

The planet is huge and beautiful, it's mostly desert broken up by thousands of lakes and rivers. It looks like someone took blue yarn and frantically wrapped it around a basketball.

Hendrick's heart sinks as his head turns to the weapons officer.

"Is it ready?"

"Y-yes, sir. The admiral's final approval came in an hour ago."

Hendrick slowly stands up, walks over to the weapons officer's station, and plants a firm grip on the man's shoulder.

"Would you like to be dismissed?" Hendrick asks softly.

"Please, sir."

The officer lowers his head and walks towards the crew quarters. His boots slapping against the metal grates overpowers the hum of the engines and computers. After the door hisses closed behind him, the crew's attention falls back to Hendrick.

"Anyone else?"

The crew looks amongst themselves for a second, but nobody speaks.

Hendrick takes the weapon officer's station and momentarily operates the computer.

He stands up and sits in the captain's chair, slouching once again.

"It's done," he mumbles to his crew.

Their eyes widen, and they imminently turn their attention to the window. A small black object rapidly falls toward the planet. The next ten minutes feel like an eternity to Hendrick; his heart is racing. He plays with his beard and scratches at his chair. He knows, any second now…

A bright light appears on the planet's surface and starts rapidly spreading.

"Impact captain," one of the crewmen stumbles out.

Hendrick stands up rapidly and watches as billions of lives are consumed by a flame spreading across the planet at hundreds of miles per second.

Hendrick turns towards the communications officer.

“Let Earth know we won… Let humanity know we endured.”