And so, it had come to this. All the plans, the fruitless attempts to communicate, to educate; it had all ended in violence. Hardly unexpected, but disappointing nonetheless.

When Arak had first heard the reports about the bipedal beings, she had been cautiously optimistic. These beings were soft, vulnerable, thus necessitating bulky suits and weapons. She believed they would be reasonable, open to negotiation. What choice did they have when they were so obviously weak.

Arak knew little of their home land but her historians had shared that these beings were fleeing a ruined planet. Their population had withered under an onslaught of natural disasters, plague, and war. Arak sympathized. Her brothers and sisters had experienced similar trials over the long centuries of their existence. How much they had suffered, how long they had endured before humility finally, mercifully allowed them to learn from their mistakes.

However, her sympathy would not deter her from protecting her planet and her people.