First timer, and I’ll just slap this here
So some chaps are lingering on the edge of our solar system, confused about a system with over 20 large objects when most have only about four, when their ship is hit by something. Not a chunk of ice or rock, but a small dish of plastic and metal. The plastic is completely foreign; organic, but from what?
They find a smaller disk with a picture on it; eight concentric rings and two bipedal forms, similar yet different. The rings have the third ring from the center slightly emphasized, like a point of interest. And so, these entities travel to where they think this ring is, assuming it to be a map.
In the orbit of the third planet from its star, they find several similar objects, but none have the same picture. Then they find the planet; a blue mass with specks of beige and green. This is perplexing; that a planet this size around this cluster fest of a star system, could harbor some form of life, potentially intelligent.
They situate on the planets only partner, a grey orb that is disproportionately large and distant from its host, only to find evidence that someone else has been here. Repeating patterns, oval imprints, and a rectangle of fabric comprising of white, five pointed shapes in a blue rectangle, and red stripes on a white background.
They decide to investigate the planet itself, and find a hellish landscape. Blistering deserts, desolate tundras, sweeping mountains and deep oceans. It’s a miracle and a nightmare that anything could survive, much less get to the planet’s neighbor.
Then they find their first human. Exactly like the picture on the disk, but with fabric on it, hiding much of its body. They were small; about three lomuwa tall, and had a ball. There were others near with the same size. On an odd structure was a taller one of just short of six lomuwa. This one saw the entities and responded with fear, gathering the smaller ones near it, before standing in front.
The entities tried to communicate that they were peaceful, but there was a clear language barrier. This tiny thing had quite the voice; several generals actually stumbled from how loud it was. The only thing that seemed to work was lowering of defensive weapons.
Others came, with large boxy devices and flying machines. That’s when it hit; these were the ones who reached their partner. They were the smartest here. And, unlike the entities, which fought for defense, these things were the apex. These things fought to kill, to consume.
The first demonstration was out in the field. From rudimentary means, the two groups; the Coalition and the Humans, learned to speak each other’s language. The humans were expert mimics, able to enunciate words they didn’t understand the meaning of. Out in the field, members of the Coalition observed the humans with long, sleek sticks. They pointed it at a four legged herbivore, and a loud crack resounded. Several coalition members fainted from the sound, and the herbivore collapsed, dead. The stick had sent a ball of metal into the creature, and the human dragged it home, cut it open, and fed it to its children.
Out in a desert on a landmass that was called Afroeurasia, the Coalition got its second display. People pointed these sticks, called “guns” at each other. This demented game seemed to be with the pure purpose of kill members of your species.
Compared to the coalition’s many species, the humans were much simpler; smaller, thinner. But they were also more adapted to their harsh environment; faster, stronger, more robust. They could die easily, but that was if they had nothing. Even a small rock could tip the scales in their favor.
And the planet. Whoo, boy, the planet. It was prone to explode, to shake. Violent weather erupted from perfectly clear days. It could be boiling one day and freezing the next. The sea rose and fell. And any time a disaster happened and destroyed homes, the humans just… rebuilt. It was almost routine.
Still, there was beauty here. The entities that weren’t lethal to the Coalition were elegant, graceful, and the greenery, as humans called it, was much more than just green; blues, reds, yellows, and whites blended into a painting. The sun rose and fell, painting the sky in pinks and oranges. Even predators could be majestic, when viewed from afar.
Then the true nightmare emerged. The history of the planet was separated into several eras, dependent on the rock types and life forms present. And they varied greatly from the ones alive now. The planet was so cold once, over 99% of all living things just froze. And things continued like normal once the ice thawed. Other times, the planet exploded, killing almost all life again. And titans rose from the ashes, only to be killed by a rock from the void, killing almost everything again. If the full history of this planet were compressed into a single earth day, it was a molten rock for a quarter of the day, everything was a cell for the second quarter, in the seas the third, and the last three hours were spent on land. An hour ago, those titans called Dinosaurs just died. And less than a second ago, humans first formed.
These small, brown beings with interesting clothes and beliefs were living in a literal hell, and this was normal for them. Eating materials on their planet that is toxic for other species for leisure. Wielding the power to alter the environment itself, even destroy itself.
The coalition swiftly abandoned this rock, dreading the day these apex predators leave their planet behind and spread.