Short SciFi Stories on the go

To them war wasn't cruelty, it was simply the way of life, the strong ruled, the week obeyed, and now only one world remained unconquered. Earth, they expected no resistance, humanity hadn't spoken to the rest of the galaxy in more than a century. Their fleets were silent, their colonies gone, most believed the Terran Federation was long dead, but then the Crim Highlord gave the command that would wake something far older and far more dangerous. The human sent no hails, no warnings, no diplomacy. They're using pre-war technology, a Crim officer shouted, it's impossible.

To them war wasn't cruelty, it was simply the way of life, the strong ruled, the week obeyed, and now only one world remained unconquered. Earth, they expected no resistance, humanity hadn't spoken to the rest of the galaxy in more than a century. Their fleets were silent, their colonies gone, most believed the Terran Federation was long dead, but then the Crim Highlord gave the command that would wake something far older and far more dangerous. The human sent no hails, no warnings, no diplomacy. They're using pre-war technology, a Crim officer shouted, it's impossible.

The Galactic Council had put him on trial for defying their orders, for refusing to give up humanity's mining rights in the Kepler Belt. Their advanced energy shields had made them cocky, untouchable in their own minds, but every shield needed power, and their power came from orbital fusion stations. When the Zephyn's open fire, not a single shot connected, humanity had prepared for this for decades, creating prediction systems based on quantum entanglement, that allowed them to see attacks before they happened. You forgot how our species rose to the top of our own world knot, because we were the strongest, but because we were relentless, we are hunters who learned to survive, and you gave us a reason to hunt. We want you to understand one thing about humanity, we can forgive many things, we can endure more than you think, we will always prefer peace when it's possible, but harm one of our own, and we will burn your civilization to ash, and salt the ground it stood on.

Her voice echoing through the council's shared neural network, the Crel Dominion has launched their full arm out of toward Earth. Over 300 different species, from the methane breathing bathy to the energy-based ephemera, turned their attention toward the massive holographic display at the center of the room. The Crel claimed Earth as a resource world six cycles ago, before your species reached the required technological level. Their enormous dreadnought sliced through the void, passing Mars without slowing, targeting Earth's major cities. They're not even hiding, muttered Commander Catherine of the Sentinel Corps, a battle-hardened species that had barely survived three Crel invasions.

Her voice echoing through the council's shared neural network, the Crel Dominion has launched their full arm out of toward Earth. Over 300 different species, from the methane breathing bathy to the energy-based ephemera, turned their attention toward the massive holographic display at the center of the room. The Crel claimed Earth as a resource world six cycles ago, before your species reached the required technological level. Their enormous dreadnought sliced through the void, passing Mars without slowing, targeting Earth's major cities. They're not even hiding, muttered Commander Catherine of the Sentinel Corps, a battle-hardened species that had barely survived three Crel invasions.

On the central display, the image of a crimson armada appeared more than 10,000 ships closing in on the blue planet called Earth. These weren't just any ships, they belonged to the Krilox swarm, the most terrifying civilization of destroyers, the galaxy had ever known. We can provide refugee ships, that won't be necessary, Chen interrupted, casually checking her data pad as though she were reading a grocery list. Chen Thelman said slowly, do not understand what is at stake, the Krilox are, we know exactly what they are. And then, to the shock of every delegate watching, their true purpose was revealed, their weapons, vexilogasped.

On the central display, the image of a crimson armada appeared more than 10,000 ships closing in on the blue planet called Earth. These weren't just any ships, they belonged to the Krilox swarm, the most terrifying civilization of destroyers, the galaxy had ever known. We can provide refugee ships, that won't be necessary, Chen interrupted, casually checking her data pad as though she were reading a grocery list. Chen Thelman said slowly, do not understand what is at stake, the Krilox are, we know exactly what they are. And then, to the shock of every delegate watching, their true purpose was revealed, their weapons, vexilogasped.

For 70 years, Earth had ignored every single invitation from the council. No attendance, no communication, no ambassadors, nothing. But when the emergency lights came on, bathing the room in red, every communicator in the chamber crackled alive with the same voice overriding all signals. The holographic sky changed, and what appeared made every being in the chamber freeze. Every orbital weapon, every defense satellite, every nearby fleet had gone offline.

For 70 years, Earth had ignored every single invitation from the council. No attendance, no communication, no ambassadors, nothing. But when the emergency lights came on, bathing the room in red, every communicator in the chamber crackled alive with the same voice overriding all signals. The holographic sky changed, and what appeared made every being in the chamber freeze. Every orbital weapon, every defense satellite, every nearby fleet had gone offline.

Captain V's in awe of the Galactic Federation scout ship Nebula Whisperer had seen more strange things than most beings could imagine during his 400 years of exploring space. Living, gas clouds that spoke through colors, and even that bizarre station near the Andromeda galaxy, where everyone walked backward and only spoke in rhymes, but nothing in his long life had ever prepared him for the readings he was staring at now. Again, loomy, this can't be right," V said, all three of his eyes blinking rapidly, a sure sign of stress among the Trillion. When it's don't just vanish, loomy, V snapped his crimson scales rising, especially not a planet that was there yesterday, and definitely not one that holds one of the most irritating yet oddly endearing species in the galaxy. Yet Admiral V's in or state at his post, growing old and eccentric, his crimson scales fading to pale pink.