[ 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 leaned back in my chair as we neared Planet Delta, otherwise known as a random series of numbers that I could n't be arsed to remember. The fourth planet to be taken back. 
 
 The alien standing in front of my squad briefed us. His -- No, wait, *its* skin a slightly translucent gray, his face a little bit like a tadpole. Little antenna things sticking out of his head, bit weird that, big round eyes. Definitely not how I imagined aliens. 
 
 He was babbling on about minimizing civilian casualties, preserve the buildings, blah, blah, blah. We already knew all that. I looked around at my brothers and sisters in this ship, the ones who I'd trained with for ten years prior, perfecting the art of war. 
 
 I heard something about us about to head in, and I prepared my assault rifle, as did the others. Nice advantage to humans, that. The bullets tear straight through those alien shields; the bullets just do n't go fast enough. 
 
 The alien sat down, and our leader stood up. `` We're about to deploy into the capital city of the planet,'' he shouted. Did n't have to shout, it was n't that loud, but it was good practice. `` Be prepared for traps and ambushes from the buildings.'' 
 
 Over the loud speaker, the alien pilot announced, `` 15 minutes.'' And so we waited, 15 minutes, guns cocked, ready to deploy. 
 
 The ship was already getting shot at as we got closer to the ground. The shuttle bay opened, and we were immediately out. The energy pulses whizzed past me as I ran and ducked for cover. I tried to listen to my radio on my shoulder to get more information on what was going on. 
 
 `` -- -lot of those -- - gone missing -- - all in the buildings.'' 
 
 In the buildings was all the info I needed. I looked around to see who was around; the entire squad was behind cover near me. Perfect. As they started firing over cover, trying not to get smacked with what were essentially massive balls of pure energy, I sprinted around and moved right on up toward a nearby building, where I saw there were plenty of hostiles inside. I heard several more squad mates near me, behind me, running with me. 
 
 Straight inside we went, though the door was a bit unconventional in its oval shape. No more than five of us, busting down walls and doors, immediately spraying right through their shields. With a slight smirk, I knew that the others outside would take this opportunity to push up. Within minutes, the building was cleared, with barely a scratch. Tough as they were, they did n't realize how we waged war. 
 
 As I walked past, going back down, I heard a faint moan. I looked around, tilted my head, and tried to find the source. Eventually, I traced it to a nearby dying alien. With a slight purr behind its voice, translated by the technology provided by the other aliens, it spoke. ``... So... Merciless... No.. H-hesitation....'' 
 
 It seemed like it was in pain, so with a quick burst, I put it out of its misery. I could n't help but feel some guilt for it. A sad smile, a backward glance as I left them behind. I knew from the briefing, though. They would've shot back, but not before trying to force us to surrender. In that way, we were more brutal. We did n't hesitate... but the guilt ate away at us. I've seen a lot of friends who went that way. 
 
 But, what mattered was that the job was finished. And we'd do the same thing for the entire planet, and the planets next in line. 

