[ WP ] A peaceful alien race is besieged by another race in the same galaxy . As their last planets fall and their home-world comes under threat they do the unthinkable . They ask for aid from the only known creatures more brutal than their foes in exchange for FTL technology . Humans accept the deal .

I bowed my head and looked at my hands. I fiddled with my fingers. I heard my companion lean back in her chair. 
 
 `` That is an... interesting request.'' 
 
 I looked back up. She had one leg crossed over the other, one arm draped over the back of the chair. The thumb on her hand not clutching the chair was between her teeth. 
 
 Considering what I'd just asked her to do, she was hideously casual. She looked like she was mulling over what she wanted for dinner. 
 
 `` I'll talk to my superiors.'' 
 
 
 
 
 Every one of our councilmen had gathered, plus one human. We watched out windows and on displays as our enemies approached, their ships painted with bright streaks and images of death. We blanched. Our human companion sipped her drink. A tiny smirk crossed her face. 
 
 `` They have no idea what they've done.'' 
 
 Our city was perfectly still, pale buildings reaching upwards higher than any human building. It looked dead already. We looked beaten. They did n't stop. 
 
 `` Open fire.'' 
 
 The order was icy cold. Everything they did was cool and calculated and cunning. 
 
 *crack* 
 
 The first tremendous slug from their ships came from above. It slammed into the flagship at over 60,000 kilometres per hour. She collapsed inwards, towards the hole torn through her hull. And then she fell, slow and burning, from the sky. I heard later she landed in a shallow lake in the middle of a public park. 
 
 We heard the sound of the slug hitting our pavements, followed by the flagship hitting the ground. 
 
 *crack, crack, crack* 
 
 The slugs no longer made individual noises. So many were fired at once, it was like a hailstorm. 
 
 Ships fell. The few troops who landed alive were torn apart by humans who willingly threw themselves from their ships with nothing but a small propulsion jet to slow their descent. The fleet our enemies had sent was destroyed utterly in less than 40 seconds. 
 
 The human in the chamber sipped her drink again. 
 
 `` That's it? I guess we got them by surprise.'' Everyone else was silent. 
 
 
 World after world fell, and we reclaimed them. The humans had no interest in taking our cities for themselves. They slaughtered the enemy, gave the all-clear, and left. Every time, without fail. They took back all our worlds, but by that point, it was n't just pest control anymore. It was *their* war now. They pushed to worlds that were n't ours or anyone else's to reclaim. They expanded their territory right around ours. What had once been a defence force was now a full-blown invasion. They chased and chased. Cold and calculated. Circling, striking, taking what they wanted and destroying everything else. The homeworld was nearly reached before we'd even begun to recover. 
 
 
 `` Call them back.'' His huge eyes bulged out of his bowed head as he kneeled before us. `` Call the humans back. You've taken what's yours.'' The council talked among themselves. 
 
 `` The humans... are acting of their own accord. There is nothing we can do for you.'' 
 
 *'' We have made a terrible mistake. `` *
