I wrote this. Over nine years ago, too. How the fuck did you find this? Edit: I now have my own UKposts channel! www.youtube.com/@WRickWrites-qy8pq You'll still be able to find all my HFY stories here on SciFiStories1977 (keep looking under the WRickWrites playlist), but if you're interested in hearing some of my other work - sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and more - then come check it out. It also has links to my subreddits, where you can find the written versions of the stories and some that won't appear on UKposts, and also my Patreon if you feel like supporting me.

"Why fight when the difference in power is already clear?" Because humans hunted the sabertooth tiger, short nose bear, and *whales* with nothing but pointy sticks

"Because since their main threat was other humans, the threat evolved with them." That is honestly so metal.

And when a human obeys its flight instinct and gets away, his next instinct is either to get a group of other humans and go back to kill whatever the threat was or to set a trap and turn the tables, becoming the hunter.

Human Scout: "This world is not YOURS to conquer."

Old Chinese saying, better a warrior in a garden than a gardner in a war, comes to mind with this story

''get other humans to do the actual fighting for you, it's what they were made for after all'' That shit's too good.

I read an sf story years ago of a similar theme. Humanity was known as a pacifistic race by the generation galactic population, until some new contact chose to attack them (with similar results to your story). The closing line was something like, "humans didn't avoid war because they didn't want to fight, they avoided it because they were so good at it."

Reminds me of the 'Man-Kzin Wars' series by Larry Niven: "When the Kzin first encountered humans, they soon realized that the reason man studied war no longer was because he had gotten so very good at it."

"Why fight when the difference in power is already clear?" A human hunter sitting in his chair next to his bear skin rug: I wonder...

I like how accurate it is. Where humanity is all about fighting itself pretty much because it has nothing else to fight but the moment something else came into the picture it was *TARGET SIGHTED* and everyone suddenly turned to battle the aliens and to advance together.

"interrupting a fight between humans is a death sentence"

This is beyond amazing. So unique, humanity is not getting slaughtered for once.

As a former soldier (Australian Army) plus a long time Sci-Fi fan I have say what a great little story!

I read an article on the most scary creature in fiction. One answer was, to other creatures on earth, we are. We are as relentless we are robust. We are as aggressive as we are revengeful and inturative. We have, for the most part, crawled our way, with few natural weapons, tooth and nail to the top of the chain. To animals on earth we are the terror in the night, we are the thing, the alien, the predator. We are the creature in the shadows, that makes the bump in the night, the creature they can't escape from. We are the stuff of nightmares...

This reminds me of an Alan Dean Foster book trilogy called "The Damned" that I read back in the 1990s. The first book, "A Call to Arms" basically tells the story two warring groups of aliens come across a world groaning beneath the weight of unused weaponry. One of the groups, the Weave, tries recruiting and finds humans very effective soldiers and quite innovative when it comes to finding new and better ways to kill their enemies. The other tries invading Earth to stop the supply of these new super-soldiers. The invasion does not go well for the invaders... And it motivates the humans to join the Weave en mass in their war against the Amplitur...

This is what most sci-fi movies get wrong, they show aliens bigger and stronger than humans but in reality, if it is bigger then most probably it is from a planet with less gravity and we would be easily able to tear it apart limb by limb.

That was really interesting. Most stories are from a human perspective, but rarely from an alien one. The alien perspective of humans, based on history, is right on the mark. The aliens would never understand the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

If the aliens have wide eyes, greet them. If they have narrow eyes, run. One is a prey animal, the other is the hunter.

As my brother once said almost fifty years ago, only I can hit my brother. We may squabble amongst ourselves. But heaven help the person who thinks that they can harm one of us and not pay a price.

Other reasons humans made peace so easily was 1) They had practice at it. The political entities that combined to form the human federation had arranged more peace treaties than the rest of the galaxy combined. 2) The war aim of the First Human Interstellar War was to eliminate the danger of the Kalu-Kamzku. That danger was much less than originally thought, and was substantially reduced combining instead of fighting each other and the Kalu-Kamzku. Initial battles both reduced the danger and showed it to be much less previously thought. Continuing a war unnecessarily takes resources, and those resources might be needed in the next war.

This is the real reason we haven't found any other intelligent species; they're hiding, hoping to not be noticed.

reminds me of the awesome "We know you're out there and we're coming for you" story

When watching Aliens and Predator, I always had a question. What if Earth was a death world and we were the the ultra predators? Nice to see I'm not the only one with this thought.

"Unremarkable corner of the galaxy?!"😂 Sounds straight out of Hitchhiker's Guide! That's a compliment. Why does this make me feel proud? That's dark, man!😂

This was a nice story. It kind of makes sense in a way the idea that non-predatory herd species are more often those that become intelligent.

human here: did you guess by now our reason studying you? yeah - it is because you fucked up! those hawks must be awesome - we'll keep them as pets.

Interesting to hear a story where the humans are the galactic badasses that aliens fear. Usually in sci fi, humans are portrayed as weaker both physically and mentally in comparison to an alien species.

As this story started it made me want to reread the short story With Friends Like These by Alan Dean Foster. I imagine this is what humanity looked like eons before the With Friends... story begins, where humanity is now a mythic fierce warrior race (long lost in history after a great war its existence is based on legends) and now this human race is being sought out by a federation of aliens as the last chance to be saved from being taken over by the Yops.

Reminds me of a story where humans evolved in much higher gravity environments than most other species. The result was a degree of durability that made them functionally bullet-resistant against handheld weapons, because weapons had to be designed with zero recoil so that they wouldn't shatter the wielder's fragile arm bones. It also made humans extremely _short._ 😂 Imagine the indignity of having your arm ripped off by an iron midget after you have fired five repulsor blasts into him, giving him nothing more than a black eye.

I really enjoyed this, it reminded me of an intro to another story which I can recall the name of. The other story was was of a human science vessel studying a star when a warrior race shows up and decides they are going to toy with and slowly microwave the humans in their unarmed vessel. They described the humans as primitive hairless apes, the scientists in their desperation modify their telescope to focus the light of the star they are studying on too the alien warship. It was at this point that they learned how proficient the primitive apes were at war.

That's wonderful. I'm not into sci-fi, but I can still appreciate the quality of the writing. I've been working on two books, one a fanfic and the other an original work, but I've been stuck for about three weeks now, probably due to laziness, haha... What I'm trying to say is, seeing how beautifully this was written has motivated me to keep writing and to create something impactful, so thank you.

That was fantastic. One of the best short stories side by wise I have ever beautifully written I love the perspective. I love the detail of humanity. From an alien's perspective I love the setting of the teacher teaching his students. The humor was fantastic. Just excellent thank you for this fabulous gift

Reminds me of the David Weber book Out of the Dark. An alien coalition sends "their worst" species to subdue humanity after being disgusted by viewing the Battle of Agincourt. No spoilers, but it doesn't go their way.

WRickWrites now has his own UKposts channel packed with even more stories. If you like his work, and he can write a great story! Please subscribe to his channel here: www.youtube.com/@WRickWrites-qy8pq

Nice to see one where humans are not at a technological or physical disadvantage. Also nice to see that humans did not go on galaxy wide killing spree just because we had the advantage. (Which is probably what we would do in real life.)

Bro, the premise for this story is actually amazing. Absolutely loved it.

Best most original writing I have seen in Years. Bravo, keep up the good work!

Beautifully narrated story. It reminded me of Star Trek episode. Also would love to hear the human side of the story.

"Why fight when the difference in power is already clear?" Do onto them before they do onto you. And he who fires first, wins! Besides, we LOVE an underdog story!

A wonderful story! What is interesting is that I can actually see this happening. An alien species would see humans as possibly weak because of the constant infighting----never realizing that the best way to bring humans together is to present them with a common enemy. And then humans stumble out into the galaxy to look around. I just loved this story, where Humanity is mad, bad and dangerous to know!

This was a fun listen! Found myself chuckling and had a smile at the end as well.

This is gold. Brutal, dark but also funny and light hearted. Well written and read.

If you enjoyed that, then I suggest that you might really enjoy "Old Man's War" series by John Scalzi, or Posleen war series by John Ringo. Some very obvious similarities between this piece and both series'.

I hope this has a sequel/full novel, the idea of humans being dangerous and incredibly complex which baffles the aliens that encounters them makes this story so unique compared to most alien sci-fi stories today. Kinda reminds me of a japanese manga I read a few years ago which humans are labeled as dangerous savages and all aliens branding the earth as a deathworld due to how incredibly dangerous it is to live ex: disease, natural disasters etc.

I like all these little concepts. Long enough to get your mind going but not too long as to stiffle imagination. 👌

This was great. I love science fiction stories where humans are NOT to be F’ed with.

What an interesting viewpoint! I greatly enjoyed listening to this story. Thank you!

''lightly armed by human standards'' hmmm.. makes me suspect the few other ground engagements there was , played out sort of like the kam deploying what they considered city killer tanks or such stuff , only to find it matched by heavy ...scouts... followed by the actual heavy weapons or proper titan/mech direct combat units arriving to just sweep the whole fields clean of what ever the scouts not killed with indiscriminate mass destruction just to send a message through any survelance feeds of their foes.. aka ..ask us to negotiate ,while you still can.

I loved this story, would love to see novels based on this universe... very well written

I greatly enjoyed this. Good framing, interesting, and ends with an unexpected punchline. Most "big picture" analysis of humanity is either saccharine or despairing, but not this. A fair analysis, done well.

This was really great, really great writing, it'd be awesome if there was more to the story :3

Good story. I vaguely reminds me of another story I heard once about a species that would essentially wipe out any other species that committed any action deemed 'too egregious to be allowed to exist'. But any method they used on humans, the humans were able to outwit it... either through intellect or cold blooded practicality. Eventually the actions of the first species triggered the humans to attack all other known races in the galaxy in a holy war based on a fake religion they had introduced into human culture. The combined might of all other galactic races was able to defeat the 'holy human empire'... barely.

Just a smaaaaal point of contention, we humans are Omnivores. We eat EVERYTHING.

I just discovered these today and I can't stop... Subscribed..

I’m glad the HFY stories are getting more attention through this medium, and the Ai does a fair job, but it isn’t perfect. It’s especially evident in a story such as this where different people speak. A little fine tuning, and it’ll be easier to tell who is speaking during the conversation.

Well written story, Thank you.

There is a snippet of something similar to this that I remember reading years ago, but I fail to recall what it was, so any help on this is appreciated: The story read much like this in the respect that it accounted how an aggressive alien species happened upon and subsequently attacked humanity. Perhaps the first battle(s) went the in the alien's favor. But VERY quickly, humanity showed its own aggression and began to counter and push back the invasion. Then, to the alien's panic, humans went on the offensive. The one piece that I can recall in some detail was told through the eyes or report of an alien and went something about like this: There was a moon or planetoid that was the site of an extremely violent conflict. Eventually, the defending humans were routed, and the aliens thought that they had secured the moon in its entirety. There was a powerful and hyper important factory/reactor on its surface. Just as a squad of them came into view of the structure, they found a note left behind by the retreating humans that read, "If we can't have it..." Then, the building detonated, and the entire planet went with it. The report ended with a plea for the alien's own species to either run from humanity or at least warn other civilizations of their folly, lest they be destroyed by a species who were so fixated on war that they would essentially self-destruct something so important of their own to prove a point. If *ANYBODY* has a name/link to this, please help a brotha out!

Thank you 💙💚❤️ for all your effort & the time you put in when uploading this. It is really truly appreciated 🙏 You really made my day, you know 🙏🤗

Really fun stuff. Thanks for posting that.

The end was perfect

I would totally buy any book that is based off this short story. This was amazing. I don't know why this was recommended to me but I am glad i found it. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

This was so good, I love it. This needs to be turned into a comic or something.

I really like how well put into consideration were the species' evolution towards civilization and how it affected their cultures and strategies in combat too.

I truly enjoyed the story, particularly since Ive been working for some years on a novel on just these topics. Now I have to worry about accidentally plagiarizing the ideas you planted in my head. Good job on a good story.

Humans are omnivores, far more dangerous, and the most dangerous of us are called Marines.

Well Done!!! I enjoyed the story!

This is really good work. I think so anyway. Seems a lot of other folks feel the same. The outside looking in perspective is a nice touch. I did about 4 years in the service myself. Not patting myself on the back but it does make me wonder how a race that hasnt been at war with itself for thousands of years would percieve us. The "never, ever harm a human juvenile" both resonates with me and reenforces my opinion ive always had. That people that do so are. Less than human. I actually felt a little pumped when i heard that.

Humans "Fight or Flight" Or, the other, "can we pack bond with that big creature over there" (Not in those exact words, but you get the idea) It looks cute, cootchie, cootchie, coo, you big fury beast! Who's a good boy?

Just stumbled across this, and enjoyed it. Thank you for your efforts here :-)

Oh that "You should be" bit got me lol

Interesting story, cool ending and very importantly for me - well spoken/clearly told.

Loved this - it reminded me of that Arthur C. Clarke story "Rescue Party"

That was a nice little story. Ever read one of Ralts Bloodthorne's stories? Dark but hilarious that has a premise much like yours. Then there is a story written by Alan Dean Foster, a trilogy that has this as a basis too. they have the premise that humans are surprisingly lethal, but the reasons why vary.

Brilliant. Especially love the ending - make sure you get humans to fight for you.

I really enjoyed this story. I turned off the lights and listened just like when people used to listen to radio show. Thank you.

This is a strange experience. I had the same idea for a sci-fi novel a few years back, but didnt write it down! I feel like som AI has hacked my brain, and copied my thoughts. Well written and well woiced, by the way.

OMG! I laughed out loud several times... too funny.

That was an Awesome story ! One of the best !

This is great thank for all your work

Excellent story. Might make a good military sci-fi series.

Fun story, thanks!

I would love to see an animation made of this story

I really like this setting. The perspective is fresh and the worldbuilding is 10/10 and well researched. (the latter shines even better integrated into the story in "The Worst Species in The Galaxy", which you should totally search and watch next, if the algorithm hasn't recommended it already)

>Artificial structures with human built, human sized openings. >Machines built by humans to transport humans. >Settlements and groupings of said structures near resource abundant areas and cultivation. >Advanced warrior technology. >Casualties. >Actual fucking space travel. >A fleet. >More casualties. "Intelligent" Invading Xenos Assessment: They _may_ be sentient. Perhaps we should talk 🤔🤷🏻‍♂ "Primitive" Human Response: Well, guess aliens are real. They aren't too tough, but they're the first ones we've met, and they look weird. They aren't too smart, but have cool looking shit. Let's talk 👍🏻🤷🏻‍♂

Much applause I liked this a lot. Being seen from another point of view.

Could you imagine this being the reality of most sentient species? We've always imagined a more violent and deadly species that we basically have to overcome in a fair amount of science fiction. The thought that we are the more violent and deadly sentients among the other space fairing civilizations is a fascinating viewpoint. Fun story!

This is awesome..you should write an entire book

The cow has eyes for hay, the wolf has eye for prey. One is there for dinner and the other is buffet.

Loved the story and the interesting angle where humans are discussed in a xeno-biological study!

Narrative is so much better than listening to some British Monty python knock-off. ❤

This was enjoyable. Thank you.

Love this story. Hopefully the real sentient races are this thoughtful and peaceful.

That was worth reading.......are you thinking of expanding on this one?

That was absolutely brilliant ❤

This story is just funny and fascinating. 😂

A nice story, but I think it's unlikely that humans are the _only_ carnivorous species in the galaxy, at least, if the number of sentient species is more than a half-dozen or so.

This was nice. Good sci-fi. I was 100% immersed. Thanks for this brain candy.

good lord what good find this is GREAT!!

Roman Legionaires and Spartans, dont forget them