[ WP ] Humanity is admitted to the Galactic Republic , however they have to meet one condition : to ban the production and distribution of music . Turns out humanity is the only species in the galaxy to create music , and its emotional affects are so potent it can incapacitate or entrance most species ' .

Admiral Elizabeth Pratt cracked the lid of the antique chest situated at the foot of her bed and, with a furtive glance to ensure the blinds were closed, dove past plaques and awards commemorating achievements long since forgotten to acquire the only item of any value within. Her hands held one of the few remaining pieces of human technology obsolete enough to fly under the detection equipment of the Council; a classic bluetooth player, and, importantly, a pair of earbuds. Gingerly, she slipped the headphones in, and, sinking into her bed, turned on the relaxing but hopeful tones of John Lennon's Imagine. Sighing, she closed her eyes and let the music lull her to sleep. 
 
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 She awoke to the angry buzzing of her Universal Communicator. Glancing at it, her eyebrows rose as she read her friend's message yelling at her to turn on the news. Sighing and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Elizabeth reached for the remote. 
 
 `` -- umentally high, and continuously rising suicide rates,'' she started in surprise when she recognized the speaker as United Nation's President Ahmed Kathrada, flanked by the leaders of all the major powers of Earth. 
 
 `` When we made contact with the Galactic Council, we were happy to acquiesce to their seemingly minor demand in exchange for peaceful coalition. At the time, we did not realize the true necessity of music to the human psyche. Now, despite repeated requests for the loosening of regulations to allow human-only locations and planets to resume the production and consumption of music, Humanity has been forced to suffer in silence.'' 
 
 `` No longer. No longer will Humanity sit down quietly under the weight of oppression. Parliaments and Congresses in every nation on Earth and beyond have written their approval, and executives have signed each and every one of these documents bearing the full weight of the potential consequences on their shoulders. Music is a part of the soul of Humanity, and no sentient being should be forced to live without a piece of their soul. And so, on this momentous year of 2776, the United Nations of Humanity declares by unanimous vote independence from the Galactic Council!'' 
 
 `` We are fully prepared to defend ourselves if necessary, but that is not our wish. Our United Nations would love nothing more than to establish a peaceful and productive relationship the Galactic Council'' 
 
 Needless to say, Elizabeth knew fully well that a Council `` Unification'' fleet would be at the edge of Human territory within the week. 
 
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 Strapping herself into the Admiral's chair at the center of the command ship-the U.N.S. Churchill, Elizabeth thought back on the events of the past week. After recovering from the shock of The Declaration, as it was coming to be known, she had hurried down to Orbital Launch Center to take control of her pride and joy, the 9th fleet of the United Nations of Humanity. They had set out initially to secure the border, but that had quickly proven a fruitless proposition. Traditional Council military doctrine was based around the simple premise of drawing the opponent into numerically advantageous engagements and crushing them, but apparently that had gone out of the window. 
 
 Small and nimble Council strike forces had begun their offensive by penetrating deep into Human space and destroying ftl waypoints. This was almost always a death sentence for the strike force, but it worked. Human movement was hampered greatly, allowing the technologically superior council forces to seize mining stations, military structures, and whatever else was in their way without risking the finality of a decisive engagement. 
 
 Now, the Council was surrounding the first of Humanity's outer colonies, New Washington. Elizabeth had been ordered to break the siege and destroy the Council forces present. It would hardly be the truly decisive battle the Humanity had been preparing for, but it would be the largest concentration of Council forces yet. And, if victorious, it would be a start to begin rolling back the gains of the council forces. 
 
 `` Admiral, preparing faster than light propulsion.'' 
 
 Elizabeth nodded her consent, leaned back into her chair, closed her eyes, and began mentally humming the newest pop song that had been released since The Declaration. 
 
 `` 3'' 
 
 `` 2'' 
 
 `` 1'' 
 
 `` All systems go, brace yourselves.'' 
 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 
 It was a warzone... Well, obviously, there was an actual war going on, but the scene already bore the scars of battle despite the overwhelming superiority of the Council in the area. Elizabeth spotted one particularly gruesome sight as the 9th slipped out of ftl: the remains of a council crewman floated in orbit, one of his barklike arms floated just separated from him, exposing his viscous purple lifeblood. Shattered Human ships tumbled slowly further away from the planet, and the Council ships were actively attempting to destroy the terrestrial guns spitting flak at them. 
 
 `` Admiral, initial sensors report that the core of the enemy fleet is comprised of five carriers, twenty dreadnoughts, sixty cruisers, and around a hundred sundry support ships.'' 
 
 `` Thank you officer,'' Elizabeth pressed down the button for the fleet wide intercom, `` Alright ladies and gentlemen, now is the moment we've been waiting for. I want Squadrons Delta and Sigma focusing on their carriers; we ca n't risk any boarders gaining control of one of our ships. Squadron Rho, you're responsible for taking care of their dreadnoughts, and that leaves the cruisers for you Squadron Psi.'' 
 
 At her command, the fleet shot forward, leaving the Churchill and the ships assigned to protect it behind. They would direct the battle from the back, instant communication allowing for on the spot tactical changes. 
 
 The element of surprise gave the 9th the upper hand at first, but that quickly began to change as Council technology began to cut through the shields protecting the Human carriers and battleships. First, a fighter from one of the Council's carriers managed to navigate through Delta's forces and close off the hangar from space. Then, a dreadnought disengaged from Rho and destroyed a good chunk of Psi's weaker ships. 
 
 Eventually, Elizabeth sensed that the moment had come. Pressing down lightly on the intercom button, she calmly spoke 
 
 `` Squadron Omega, engage.'' 
 
 Immediately, twenty of Humanity's newest inventions slipped into space behind the enemy fleet. They had been designed to avoid detection from all but human warships, and the technology proved to be successful when none from the Council fleet reacted. Finally, they opened fire. 
 
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 It began with a classic. Bangarang was blasted at the enemy fighters, overwhelming their pilot's fragile minds. They quickly lost all sense of cohesion, opening fire on each other and flying into each other. It did n't take long before the fighters in Delta and Sigma wiped the last fighter from the sky, but the Council admiral had bigger problems. Half of his cruisers had stopped dead in the sky, and the other half had warped away without warning. When he attempted to find out why, he only heard the heartbreaking sounds of `` Say Something'' and muffled sobbing before he noticed a bright flare coming from the system's star and quickly cut the intercom off. 
 
 Then, he heard the faint sounds of Strength of a Thousand Men coming from his dreadnoughts... right before they dropped their shields and charged the Human fleet, only to be lanced down by their battleships. He grimaced as he realized that only he and the carriers were left. 
 
 Elizabeth grinned as she told Omega to que up their final song. Slowly, the soft refrains of that classic song began to waft of the intercom. 
 
 `` Hush, little baby, do n't say a word. 
 Papa's gon na buy you a mockingbird 
 
 And if that mockingbird wo n't sing, 
 Papa's gon na buy you a diamond ring 
 
 And if that diamond ring turns brass, 
 Papa's gon na buy you a looking glass'' 
 
 This. This was the sound of human domination over the galaxy; the enemy admiral was still sound asleep when his ship arrived back on Earth to be taken apart and put back together again a million times. 
 
 ( Well, this was my first response to a writing prompt ever ( and really the first time I've written fiction just for fun ( aka outside of school ) ), and it probably sucked but oh well /shrug. Sorry for wasting your time if you hated it haha. I know for sure that battle scene could use a hefty amount of work ) 
 
 EDIT: Formatting
