We had begun with the standard shock and awe tactics, bombarding their population centers from orbit with kinetic weapon strikes. One moment a city was standing, and the next it was ash through the power of pure physics. No radiation to clean up and minimal collateral damage to the atmosphere.
It was standard procedure, one that was so common I didn’t even look up from my work as the cities were incinerated far below.
Most species at this point usually took one of two routes. The more cowardly races like the Vnhin supplicated to surrender before we had even finished our bombardment. The braver species like the Drikil’hin had organized themselves on the ground, mobilized every army and spread themselves over their planet to prepare for ground forces. It had been admirable, but futile when we could track every movement from orbit and eliminate them with smaller kinetic strikes.
Some species worshiped us as gods, and one species had even committed mass suicide when we descended from orbit in our ships.
The Humans though, had not waited, they had not organized. They simply retaliated.
Within [minutes] of our attack nuclear missiles and other armament arced up through their atmosphere. At first the automatic systems on our ships handled the attacks easily enough swatting the warheads away with ease. We had been surprised that they were willing to use nuclear weapons on us considering the damage that would be sustained on their planet if even one EMP burst occurred.
After that first volley they went silent. We watched from orbit, this was still not very unusual. The leaders of what remained of their primitive governments were not doubt meeting and weighing options. It was better for them to contact us, a species was better at ruling itself and now that we had demonstrated our power they would give into our demands. It was much easier to let them retain some governance than setting up a one ourselves.
Instead after an [hour] another volley of missiles from one continent were launched, they soared up towards us in orbit and for several minutes we were puzzled, the number of warheads far exceeded anything we had previously encountered. Still our defensive systems would be able to deal with them easily enough.
Another barrage of missiles, this time from another continent launched. Still well within our ability to deflect, but odd given that this number of missiles alone was again enough to completely destroy the planet below.
From almost every point on their globe, and from their seas missiles were launched.
The number far exceeded what our defensive systems could properly deal with, and although the lasers shot from the guns faster than I had ever seen all it took was one missile.
One atomic warhead went off nearly in the middle of the fleet, and disrupting every electronic system for only a moment allowed a dozen more through.
In total we lost ten ships. Nearly half of the invasion fleet. 20,000 souls gone in an instant of barbaric destruction.
When we had regained our bearings the Captain ordered everyone to ready for a ground assault. I had trained briefly for such a venture back in the academy, as a way to get closer to a potential mate. She had rejected me in the end but I had completed the auxiliary training.
I had never thought I would use it, ground assaults were a thing of the past. Pulled from my job sorting through primitive alien communications I found myself on the surface of an alien world against the humans.
They were brutal.
The assault shuttle I had landed in had done so on one of their primitive roadways connecting the larger population centers. We had not seen any humans when we first disembarked, our energy shields raised and weapons held aloft and charged.
I had thought they would attack us immediately, like they had when we were in orbit. Instead though, the road on which we had landed was deserted. Slowly moving away from the shuttle we advanced towards the population center in front of us.
With the energy shield in place nothing should have been able to attack us, we were protected from all sides. Except for one, down.
As we crossed a line of dirt on the road, still in our organized ranks and platoon formation something happened. The ground exploded upwards sending men flying through the air limbs missing and bodies shredded, before anyone could react another explosion. The smell of burning flesh and feathers permeated the air.
A dozen more after that, I managed to keep my hands on my weapon and retreat back towards the shuttle, but the humans had pounced.
My armor easily absorbed the first few impacts from their primitive hand to hand weapons, and leveling my gun I fired at them. What remained of my platoon did the same we grouped together and continued to fire arcs of energy at the primitives.
They did not cow, they did not retreat when the body of one of their kin fell in front of them. Rather they only seemed to become more enraged. Wave after wave of the humans attacked, still brandishing their ineffective weapons some even abandoning those for simple bludgeons.
One projectile found a chink in my armor and I fell to the ground.
My platoon left me for dead and continued down the road back to the shuttle. I watched helplessly as several more fell to the ground dying almost instantly. The humans paid them no mind instead continuing to attack even as many more of their own fell in the wake of the hasty retreat.
So now I was bleeding out, injured and dying on the surface of a barbaric alien world.
Looking across the purple blood stained dirt road I rolled over onto my stomach and slowly pulled myself along with my talons. Three talons were missing on my upper left limb, and I held it above the dirt as I crawled along with the three other.
Reaching the medical kit on the body of one of the members of my platoon who was missing a head, I grabbed at it with my uninjured left hand.
An alien limb slapped down on top of my own, and I paused my feathers going up in fear.
Slowly I turned to look at the human.
It was covered in dirt and grime, blood and ichor. It looked positively feral, like a monster from fiction.
Still it looked as surprised as I felt, it’s eyes wide and mouth agape. Slowly it removed the limb, leaving behind a red liquid on top of my talons.
We looked at one another for several long moments I could see more of the red liquid all over it. That had to be its blood, my own purple blood seemed to be congealing and knitting my wounds more efficiently than the humans could.
Keeping my eyes on the wounded creature I grabbed at the medical kit and growled in frustration, it was crushed slightly deformed so that it was nearly impossible to open.
Trying to worm a talon in between the seams of the thing to open it I ignored the human, even as it watched me intently.
If it was going to kill me it would kill me, until that happened I was going to work to get the kit open.
After several exhausting [minutes] I slammed the medical kit down to the ground again and it bounced out of my hand. I watched it roll away and let out a low gurgle of pain and frustration.
Closing my eyes, I leaned back into the dirt. I could feel something wrong in my first ribcage, which combined with the missing talons was producing a deep throbbing pain throughout my body. I didn’t want to move again, let alone crawl across the ground to retrieve the kit.
I heard the human moving around in the dirt and gravel. I resisted the urge to open my eyes, at this point I had enough I wasn’t going to fight anymore.
A dull thud and the sound of bending metal was not the next sound I expected, I had expected to hear the human plunging a knife or crude weapon into my flesh between my plates of armor.
Opening my eyes, I looked down to see that the Human had opened the medical kit, and after examining the contents for a moment had picked up the medical wrap. It looked at the material for a moment and then back at me.
Part of me wanted to reach out and grab it away from the creature, but then it had just smashed the hardened case open. I wouldn’t be able to overpower it.
The human looked at the medical wrap again and then slowly began moving forwards, I watched my eyes only half open.
Moving up to my first chest the human said something in its language.
Reaching down it produced a knife and whipping it forwards cut at one of the straps holding my armor before I could even react. Lashing out with my upper right hand I slashed at its face, the human winced and said something else in its language even as more red liquid spurted from the fresh wound beneath one of its eyes.
Raising a fist, it violently struck out at my face dazing me.
It had no talons, but the power behind the blow was incredible. It took several moments for me to regain my senses stunned as I was.
Refocusing my eyes, I saw that the human had moved my armor to the side and was pressing the medical wrap to my first chest, staunching the flow of blood from a wound I hadn’t even noticed.
I looked up at the human surprised.
It said something else in its language which I didn’t understand.
Pressing the wrap down it began to loop the material around me only pausing when it reached the ground. It looked up at me expectantly pointing with its other limb towards the sky.
Hesitantly I slowly raised my first chest off the ground bending at my first spinal joint, unsure what more the human was going to do.
It muttered something and passing the wrap under me tightening it and further staunching the flow of blood.
I continued to watch it unsure what exactly was going on. Was I a prisoner? Did it not want me to die on the battlefield when I might provide information? Surely it was not dumb enough to believe I knew it’s primitive language.
Perhaps they did not kill the injured? No I had seen other humans shoot those who were injured when they fell to the ground and screamed in pain, it was why I had been silent when I fell despite the agony of my wounds.
Perhaps it was going to kill me when I thought I would live?
The human finished with the wrap and turning back to the medical kit moved its head from side to side causing the odd head follicles to move in a wave.
Picking it up the human held the kit out to me.
Slowly so as not to startle the thing I moved my lower right hand out, the one which had my filed down talons and took it.
The human moved its head up and down, and then getting to its feet stood and let out a low keen. Placing a hand on its own chest it walked forwards away from me quickly disappearing from view even as red blood fell to the ground behind it.
Bemused I rattled the medical kit around and finding the pain killers quickly took the correct vial out and popped the top off. Downing the concoction, I closed my eyes for a moment waiting for the medicine to take effect.
After the main star had moved far further down the sky, the planet rotating a fair portion I heard more humans.
Slowly I opened my eyes.
A group of them were picking through the battlefield.
One pointed at me and I slowly raised my lower right hand, if they were like the first Human they would help me.
The human behind the one indicating my position raised a gun to its shoulder.
The last sound I heard was the clatter of primitive gunfire.