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niqhtlord01 · 2 days

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Humans are weird: Scavenger Kings

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Standing Order #16735-92.1

All Grade 2 technology or higher, regardless of intended function, is to be destroyed if recovery is deemed impossible. In the event of a withdrawal is issued no forces may commence with said order until the previous instructions are carried out and all Grade 2 technology is damaged beyond repair.

The use of any and all means required to carry out this order are hereby allowed by High Command.

Failure to follow this order will result in immediate incarceration followed by a military inquiry to review the matter in question. ----------------------------------

“Has the commander heard the definition of order 16735-92.1?”

The prosecutor turned to see First Mavark Gelen Freen looking at him with focused intent from the stand.

“I have heard the definition.” Freen replied dryly as his eyes slowly gazed across the courtroom. He took in the measure of each of the commanders gathered to act as his jurors, many sharing a look of mundane interest in the proceedings, and the gathered on lookers behind the separation fence which sat with baited breath. Only the military Magistrate, whom he noticed from the corner of his eye, was focused on the prosecutors questioning.

“Do you know why this order was put in place Freen?” the prosecutor continued only for Freen’s defender to cut him off.

“My client is First Mavark Gelen Freen,” they began, “and as his rank has not been rescinded he will be addressed as such.”

The Magistrate nodded in acknowledgement of the defender’s argument and so the prosecutor held up his hand. “My apologies Magistrate, no harm was intended.”

“I repeat my question then, First Mavark,” the prosecutor continued as the last bit was overly emphasized, “do you know why this order was put in place?”

“Of course,” Freen answered without hesitation, “to prevent technology from falling into the hands of our enemies in the event we are forced to retreat from the battlefield.”

“Exactly.” The prosecutor smiled as he turned to the jurors. “One would wonder why the most powerful species in the universe would care about such trivial matters, but it is because we are the most powerful that this order must exist. The order is to prevent enemy combatants from gaining our technology and adapting it to use against us.”

He turned back and paced towards the stand, the prosecutors smile fading as swiftly as it had appeared. “So will you care to explain to the court why you failed to follow order 16735-92.1 while withdrawing from the battle on Teratis Prime and allowing the humans to obtain our technology?!”

Bringing his hands down on the stand railing with a loud thud, several of the onlookers jumped slightly in their seats from surprise. Freen and the jurors, who had all served in combat, rolled their eyes at the weak attempt of intimidation.

“As I have stated,” Freen began, “both in my official report after action and since I have been detained I followed the order to the letter and left no military grade technology for the humans to obtain.”

Freen’s mind drifted back to the closing hours of the battle several light years away. The humans had dropped in a reinforcement fleet that derailed a protracted war of attrition against their Nevari allies. Primitive in nature, their military was numerous enough to launch a series of devastating counter attacks that force Freen’s people to withdraw. It had been a chaotic mess at the end with soldiers scrambling for any ship orbit capable to reach the last remaining transports.

As the last surviving Mavark still planetside, command had ordered him to hold the outskirts of the last remaining spaceport still in their control. The humans unleashed a storm of cannon fire that reduced the outlying suburbs into rubble before waves of their soldiers navigated through the freshly made rubble. The shells had not even ceased falling when the first human soldier emerged from the billowing dust cloud and opened fired on Freen’s men.

“Did you say “Military grade Technology”?” the prosecutor zeroed in on.

Freen nodded. “Yes, all military technology grade 2 or higher was destroyed beyond recover as we pulled back to the dropships.”

“Forgive me First Mavark, but I thought you said you understood what Order #16735-92.1 was.” The prosecutor turned towards the jury. “The order states ALL grade 2 technology must be destroyed; not just military grade technology.”

Freen shrugged. “At the time my forces were being hammered from all sides. I made the decision that military technology would take priority and was informed all military grade technology was incapacitated before giving the final order to withdraw.”

“So by your own admission you only half fulfilled the order before retreating and leaving the job uncompleted.”

The First Mavark opened his mouth to rebuttal but the prosecutor pulled out a remote and pressed a button on it. One by one the lights went off and a view screen descended from the ceiling. A picture appeared on the screen that at first confused Freen. It was a picture of a machine easily thirty feet long with a large flatbed being carried by a considerable amount of mechanical legs underneath giving it an insect like appearance.

“Do you know what this is, First Mavark?” the prosecutor asked with a smug grin. Freen nodded.

“It is a farming machine used on Teratis Prime.” He pointed to the series of legs on the undercarriage. “The prime crop only grows on the high peaks of mountain ranges, so the vehicle needs the extra legs to scale them.”

“Very good.” The prosecutor condescended, “Which would make this a grade 3 level of technology.”

“I was in the middle of a battle destroying abandoned photon cannons while keeping my warriors alive.” Freen countered. “I did not have time to pause and look for farming equipment.”

The prosecutor pressed another button to show a warehouse of farming machines. “This shipment was store on the starport’s western storage fields ready for transport offworld to Vergi VI; and you left it intact as the final dropship carried you away.”

He pressed it one more time and a video began playing. The footage was shaky and unbalanced as the camera man appeared to be crawling along the ground. “This footage was taken from Vergi VI three days ago by an operative conducting sabotage efforts behind human lines.”

Freen watched as the footage continued shaking as the operative crawled through tall grass. A sudden mechanical grinding sound in the distance made the operative stop moving and lay still. The grinding sound continued to grow louder as a series of loud thumping noises began mingling in with the noise.

Slowly, the operative moved forward again and parted the tall grass. There, just across a rocky plain, were several dozen humans riding across the farming machines.

Freen looked closer at the machines and saw that they had each been modified from their original design. They were walking at speeds that should have far exceeded safety limits and to his surprise several of the ones in the center of the group had been outfitted with artillery cannons. As the group of machines moved over the rocky terrain the machines at the center kept a constant stream of fire far off into the distance.

“The humans found the farming machines you failed to destroy,” the prosecutor said over the video as it continued to play, “and sent them back to their research facilities. Three months later these new versions were being sent to the frontlines acting as mobile artillery platforms and troop transports that can bypass once thought impassable terrain.”

He pointed to the center machines with the cannons. “The gyroscopic stability matrixes, that had been used to stabilize them while ascending up mountains, were also very convenient at ensuring a stable firing platform for their long range weapons. With the additional movement the platforms provide have become increasingly difficult to retaliate against as by the time we triangulate their firing locations they have already moved on.”

The screen froze on one of the platforms as it fired; the large plume of smoke and fire emitting from it searing its way into the eyes of everyone present.

“Because you made the call, and ignored grade 3 technology, you gave our enemies the means to once again level the playing field against our brave forces.”

Freen wanted to mention that he was part of those “brave forces” but the prosecutor clicked the remote and the screen changed again.

This time it showed a bike like construct as it sped past the camera at lightning speeds. “Grand Mavark thought the same as you when he ignored anti-gravity shopping karts, and thus the humans created the “Screamers” as our soldiers call them. Hypersonic assault craft that bypass anti-air sensors through sheer speed before unleashing a devastating barrage of missiles on their target.”

The screen switched again to show a human soldier put on a cloak and seemingly disappear from sight as a squad of soldiers rushed by. “Scion Indel was likewise in your thinking when she ignored the Phabeon Projector modules used by children’s toys which were then used to create the so called “Chameleon Cloak”, which allow humans to project their surroundings upon the cloak and appear seemingly invisible to all but the most advanced scanning technology.”

As the soldiers passed by on the screen no sooner did the human drop the cloak and open fire on the soldiers as their backs were turned. “This technology was ironically used by human operatives to assassinate Scion Indel and withdraw without retaliation.” The prosecutor added.

With that the screen went dark and the lights of the courtroom came back on.

“This rule is in place because in ours wars with humans,” the prosecutor said while facing the jury, “that while they may appear inferior technologically to us they have a seemingly deadly ability to warp alien technology to serve their own ends; in many cases with deadly efficiency.”

He turned to face Freen. “That is why ALL technology grade 2 or higher is meant to be destroyed, not just military technology. By your own ignorance you have given our enemies yet another arrow in their quiver to unleash upon us.”

He leaned in and glared down at Freen. “Do you have any idea how many of your brothers and sisters you have killed because you “did not have time..”?”

#humans are insane #humans are weird #humans are space oddities #humans are space orcs #scifi #story #writing #original writing #niqhtlord01

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