[ WP ] There is unrest in the galaxy but the advanced alien races that populate it lack the capacity to kill . One alien race decides to recruit the humans of earth as their military .

“ There must be another way. ” 
 
 “ You know there isn ’ t. ” 
 
 Jakfar Xile, Emissary of the Droklens, stood on the bridge of the diplomatic vessel. He gazed into the vis-screen, a perfect facsimile of a window. The distant stars seemed close in the blackness, and in the center of the screen was a small blue and green orb. 
 
 “ I don ’ t believe in solutions that rely on violence, Crads, ” Jakfar said. 
 
 “ You know I wouldn ’ t suggest this if I hadn ’ t considered all other possibilities first. ” 
 
 Crads Dagnar, Commanding Governor of the Droklens, rose from where he sat at the oblong table, the surface slick and black as obsidian, where only hours before a council of the races had convened to discuss the growing tension between them. 
 
 Jakfar exhaled a weary sigh, then switched off the vis-screen and joined Crads at the table. 
 
 “ Maybe I ’ m in the wrong line of work. A diplomat shouldn ’ t consider violence as an alternative to peace talks. ” 
 
 
 “ We ’ ve had millennia of peace talks. And they ’ ve worked. But how long can atomic disarmament last? How long can the races of the Universe coexist without stepping on each other ’ s toes? The old agreements are breaking down. The question is not should we enlist the humans, but who will get to them first if we don ’ t? ” 
 
 Jakfar looked his reflection on the table. He saw his own blank stare in his eye cluster, his antennae drooping. He knew the stories; all the races of the Universe new the stories. Stories about the savage creatures known as “ humans, ” an incredibly primitive race who were the fascinating contradiction of being the bloodiest and most violent race in the Universe, but who lived on arguably one of the most beautiful planets in the Universe. When Jakfar had heard the story of the humans as a child, he had asked, naively, Why do they have to fight each other? How can they care enough to fight with such beauty around them? Because, his mother had answered, they are still a very new people. The other races of the Universe have had violent pasts as well. But Terra came along very late in the life of the Universe, so they have to learn to be civilized like we are. 
 
 The races of the Universe had long ago realized that it would be most wise to remain an unknown presence, for the humans not to know that life existed outside their own world. But now, several millennia had passed since humans had first appeared on Terra, and it was only a matter of time before they too became a Race of the Universe, not just a parochial species confined to their own world. And the humans ’ technology had developed at an astounding rate. They discovered space travel, atomic weaponry, and regenerative healing all within a century of one another. Their space travel was still crude and limited—they had yet to leave their own solar system—but crude though it was, their nuclear arsenal was by far the largest in the Universe. All others had since been reduced considerably or decommissioned entirely long ago. 
 
 “ I remember reading a passage in school from an Terra text: ‘ All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal. ’ We distinguish ourselves from humans on the basis of our superiority as thinking animals. Have we thought through what will happen here? Surely you don ’ t believe that once we recruit the humans, that we will enjoy instantaneous control of the Universe? ” 
 
 “ Certainly not. ” 
 
 “ And surely you don ’ t believe that the old agreements will hold up once the first blow has been struck? ” 
 
 “ Now stop right there. ” 
 
 Crads rose to his feet. He stood ramrod straight, from his lower appendages to his upright antennae. He had been an officer in the days when the Droklens still had a military, and the rigid attitude had never left him. 
 
 “ Don ’ t treat me like I don ’ t know what an Act of War is and that I don ’ t know what the consequences for aggression are. I know as well as you that we will irreparably change the delicate fabric of the Universe. But I also know this: the old agreements only work because they presuppose a closed system with negligible amounts of weaponry, suitably only for clearing asteroids and planet-level law enforcement. But the old agreements neglect to consider the possibility of an outside weapon—an outside army. Since you ’ re so fond of quoting famous humans, I ’ ll quote one of my own. I ’ m sure you studied the war called World War II. And if that is the case, I ’ m sure you know of a strategy called “ Blietzkrieg ” warfare. Lightning war. You defeat an opponent by attacking and defeating him before he even knows what has happened. We will conduct Blitzkrieg on a galactic scale. We will conquer the Universe before the other races even have time to respond. ” 
 
 “ Blitzkrieg was the Nazi strategy. You do know the Nazi ’ s lost the war, don ’ t you? And furthermore, they are widely considered on Terra to be the, how they say, ‘ bad guys. ’ Doesn ’ t it say something when humans consider a group of themselves to be bad? ” 
 
 “ History will decide who is good and who is bad. I will decide to save our race—our people. ” 
 
 Jakfar knew that Crags could accomplish this feat without him. He had the support of the people. He had the ships. Jakfar had only the Droklen Council ’ s good will and tenuous diplomatic responsibility. But it had come to war, and the power held by diplomats, even distinguished ones like Jakfar, was fading fast. 
 
 He rose again and switched on the vis-plate. He felt small, powerless. How could it have come to this? He thought that if he couldn ’ t stop the impending violence, he could at least try to mediate it—to slow it, and keep the death toll as low as possible. Once he had the humans in his control, Crads would surely use them as a blunt instrument, wiping out broad swaths of the Universe just to make an example. All that was necessary was to demonstrate force a few times and then take up strategic positions in the Universe. He could keep the death toll low. He had too. It was the only thing to do now. 
 
 “ Very well, ” Jakfar said. 
 
 “ Good. I ’ m glad you ’ ve agreed. ” 
 
 Crads rose to leave, and Jakfar stood there, staring at the blue orb for a long time. 
 
... 
 
 The humans were frantic as the metal pod descended from the sky. It had appeared before the air defense systems had time to react. The local police and military were only just arriving as it touched the ground. Some civilians had run, some were frozen to the spot in stunned terror and wonder. The Captain of the National Guard stood at the head of his men, fanned out around the pod, their weapons raised. 
 
 From the seamless pod, a long piece of metal separated and lowered to the ground. A strange creature appeared at the top of the ramp. 
 
 “ Take me to your leader. ”
