[ WP ] You discover that Earth is the `` North Korea '' of the galaxy

The door clanged open with a resounding noise, the echoes reverberating throughout the chamber in which I had been imprisoned. 
 “ It time, ” grunted the ungodly aberration that approached me. Filthy xenos filth, I thought as I brought myself to my knees. They would pay for their crimes. The Emperor would make sure of it. Why, the peoples of Terra must be amassing at this very moment… 
 My train of thought was derailed by the blunt growl of the monstrous jailor, the only word the thing could utter being, “ Move. ” 
 The beast brought me down the corridor, his every mangled sentence an insult to the Terran language. I would have resisted, but after weeks in the prison cell, I had become too emaciated to fight back. I hung limply, dragged by the brute strength of the alien ’ s uncultured and filthy arms. Finally, we came to a large chamber. 
 Unlike the magnificent courts of Terra, in which swift justice befell the leaders of the Collective ’ s hordes, the alien judgment chamber was sparse, a rigid and savage testament to the barbaric artlessness that so characterized the foul xenos scum who were about to sentence me to death. 
 I spat on the plastic ground, defiant against my oppressors. The action elicited gasps of shock from the gathered masses. The judge, however, remained calm, quiet, peaceful. To hell with him, the serene fucker! I peeled back my fingers to my palm, making the glorious Terran symbol of righteous battle, the solitary middle finger pointed to the heavens. 
 The thin grey judge merely shrugged. “ Fellows, do you not see why we should have pity on this creature? ” it spoke to the assembled jury. “ He is uneducated, unaware of what he has done. I recognize your cries for swift justice, but to resort to execution is to resort to barbarism of a human level! ” 
 “ Xenos scum! ” I shouted. Rage boiled through me, my veins spasming in agony at the jab at my species. I rose to attack the judge, but a quick stab of pain in my neck told me that the monstrous guard had administered a relaxant through his syringe gun. 
 Barely stymied by my outburst, the judge spoke onwards. “ This specimen is a brainwashed soldier, cannon fodder for an evil empire that he does not understand! How was he to know that the payload he dropped on the Hiran system was a singularity bomb? If we are to fight the ideological scourge of this human axis of evil, we must extend relative leniency towards its most abused citizens! For how can we argue that this man has been abused by his so-called ‘ benevolent Emperor ’? Starved and uneducated as the Emperor cavorts in a private paradise! Made to kill his fellow man in the name of the Terran will! I have only pity for such a man. ” 
 A voice spoke from the crowd: “ But Chancellor, he caused over a billion deaths! He must pay. ” 
 For the first time, the judge raised his voice. “ I sense vengeance in your town, Representative! To stoop to vengeance is to be positively… human. ” He spat the word out like an insult. The crowd recoiled, apparently disgusted by something the judge had said. 
 “ Yes, I do say ‘ human ’! I would have us all remember that we are not inherently beyond the barbarism of the people of Terra! Yet we have conditioned ourselves to forsake vengeance, while they only strive to give in to it. It is only through pity and a true desire to heal that we will ever uplift the once great human race! ” 
 Once-great? The Collective never acknowledged human greatness, not in all the history of the war… 
 “ Comrades, brethren! These warlike savages were once our allies, our greatest benefactors and strongest friends! They may be redeemed, if only their foul Emperor is done away with. ” 
 Such talk was heresy, but I wanted to hear more. What was this talk of a former alliance between xenos and homo sapiens? 
 “ Thus, I suggest a new strategy in war. No more attacks on the Imperial military! No more sad, brainwashed men need die before realizing the error of their ways! We will strike at the core of the Imperium itself. If that means purging the Imperial capitol in fire, so be it! The price is too high to let the Emperor remain in power one moment more! Cut loose this devolved prisoner, and join me in the liberation of humanity! ” 
 There was a great hurrah from the stands, and for a moment I finally grasped the gravity of the situation. This was no criminal trial. This was a government meeting. For all of my struggle, I had been thrown aside, regarded only as a device in some xenos politician ’ s speech. Tears came to my eyes, and I found myself unable to stay awake. As the sedative that the guard had administered began to come into effect, my mind dimmed, until my only thought was a memory of something our Eternal Leader the Emperor had once said: “ Mankind has grown strong in eternal struggles and it will only perish through eternal peace. ” The words of his Majesty calmed me at last, and in moments, I was enveloped in darkness. 

