[ WP ] Stars have brilliant deaths , large explosions given a beautiful name . Men are granted nothing so glorious .

`` I would find your tenacity inspiring, if it were not so pathetically futile. How far did you travel in your sad attempt for revenge? One? Two light years? Three at most. And for what?'' 
 
 I see the blinking light behind her eyes, the obvious sign of Valaxxian laughter. The synthesizer's monotone and robotic voice only adds to the words' sting. I grit my teeth and continue my ascent. The reactor is so close. 
 
 `` I have traveled seventy light years myself. A number that is nothing compared to the Valaxxian Empire. Your measly distance is the pinnacle of your species. An achievement gained on the backs of better creatures. My people out class yours in every way.'' 
 
 Fifty more meters to go. I clutch the rungs of the ladder with my left hand and stare at plexiglass jar in my right. The small red droplets casually float around in zero gravity, slowly gathering together into larger droplets until reaching critical mass. A particularly large one shakes before violently separating into a billion tiny pieces. The other pieces delicately swirl out of the way of the new comers, repelled by the temporary like charge. The charge slowly fades and the pieces begin to swirl and clump due to their own gravity. The process begins again. The commander's voice snaps me back to reality. 
 
 `` Your people are gone dwarf. Consumed by their own arrogance. We gave them an ultimatum and they foolishly thought that they could resist our might. You were on the far post when it happened. Would you like me to describe it?'' 
 
 I can feel the anger grow inside of me. Ten more rungs and I will reach the reactor. My resolve has never been greater. 
 
 `` I saw the blast with my own eyes. Something that would have burned your vision. I felt the shockwaves upon my scales, something that would have torn you asunder.'' 
 
 The fuel rods slide into view. This dose of radiation would be lethal at ten minutes in full gear. I only had a rebreather. I quickly push the jar down the open shaft, inertia would take it down to the core. Activating the valve, I watch the fuel rods descend. The rector was too loud for me to hear the crunch of the jar breaking but I know the red mercury has been released due to the contamination lights flashing. The alarm did not sound. Disabling that had been step one. 
 
 `` I have recordings of it. The supernova that took everything from you. Such a brilliant thing, the death of a star. It is a glorious send off. There is no better way to have such a wondrous thing as a star die. The life giver becomes the single most destructive force imaginable. All great stars supernova, the lesser ones consume and become black holes. You should be honored. Your star would have grown dull and sputtered out like a sad little candle, leaving no mark. Neither bright not dark, just sad remains. That's what your civilization was destined for. We gave it something better in death.'' 
 
 My fingers deftly tap away as I input the override commands. This was the moment I had prepared for an entire year. Every waking second of the trip here had been in preparation for this moment. The mental fortitude to resist their invasive minds had been the hardest. 
 
 `` You humans are not so grand. What happens when you die? Nothing. You burn up along with your sad blue planet. Eclipsed entirely by giants. You never had a place in this universe. So tell me, dwarf, what do you have to say for yourself. What are your final words. The final words of the human race? What would you call your death? 
 
 `` Syria'th lika tal holt.'' 
 
 The ship AI announces the message as it accepts my commands. The sounds are strange to my ears, true Valaxxian speech is airy, the result of three voice boxes. But I understand. I memorized those words so I would know when the deed was done. The blinking in her eyes is gone. A dull blue denotes rage. 
 
 `` Coordinates locked, accelerator engaged.'' 
 
 I repeat the announcement in human tongue for emphasis. My eyes meet all four of hers. The mental image of herself that she has been projecting in my mind flickers. She's losing her concentration. I smile as I think of Salrius IV. The Valaxxian sun, a massive star near the center of the galaxy. I know she can see it in my mind. 
 
 `` Your right. Humans do not explode into a glorious supernova upon death. We do n't have a fancy name for it. Its happened so much we did n't need a name for it. Death was everywhere, an unspoken constant. But like we warned you when you gave us the ultimatum, our death is unique. It has a quality that no other death has, not even a supernova. A long time ago a man said'Give me liberty or give me death.' You see that's the thing about human death. We did n't give it a name because it has something else. It has meaning. In death we become something more than we were. Human life is struggle, something you Valaxxites know little of, having been cradled in the care of those before you. In death that struggle becomes something real.'' 
 
 I grip the sides of my head and concentrate, making sure she maintains the connection. 
 
 `` And one more thing, humans never die alone. We always take something along for the ride. I guess if you really want a name for the death of the human race, I'd call it the last thing the Valaxxian Empire ever did!'' 
 
 I could see the ship speeding toward the Valaxxian home world as her thoughts shifted from projecting herself in my mind to involuntarily picturing the death of her species. Solarius IV is big enough to set off a chain reaction. A scene of countess supernovae engulfing the galaxy plays out in her mind and so I see it too. 
 
 `` Do you have a name for the death of the Valaxxian Empire?'' 

