Chapter 2: Rules of War
The galaxy was amused when they learned that Humans have Rules of War. They were less amused when they figured out what Humans do in war when there are no rules.
In the far reaches of space, a lone human cargo hauler came under attack by an alien race that they had yet to meet. An emergency drone dropped out of the hauler with a dump of the ship's computers highlighting the attacker. In a flash, the drone was off to the nearest human star system.
That lone incident introduced humans to the wider galaxy, one teeming with alien species, all decades to centuries more advanced than themselves. It took months before Sol found out who their attackers were, a race of beings half the size and thrice as mean as an onery grizzly bear. The race appeared as if bears from Earth evolved to have thumbs and walk upright.
Offers for peace were ignored, the response being every envoy was killed or destroyed. A few minor skirmishes broke out along the borders of the Grizzlies, as the humans had taken to calling them, but not all-out war. Contact with the wider galactic populace was rapid and Sol learned that the Grizzlies were conquerors, they only understood war and conquest. The Great Hunt, they called it with almost religious fervor.
Not wanting to possibly place themselves poorly within the greater galactic community, the Sol ambassadors asked what rules of warfare the various species abided by, both spoken and written. The response they received was, "Rules in war? There are no rules!". The humans were shocked. "What about the treatment of prisoners of war?" None. "Rules of medical transport and aid?" None. Anything about the use of appropriate force? None.
The ambassadors shared a look amongst themselves before responding, "Great peoples of the galactic populace, are you sure there are no rules to warfare between one another? We are free to defend and carry on warfare as we see fit?" Laughter was their response.
The humans tried to reach an agreement on how to conduct the war, do not attack medical facilities or transports, no radiological or biological warfare, just conventional weapons. Only attack military-necessary targets, not civilian populaces.
The Phulark, or the Grizzlies, only responded by dropping nuclear weapons on a heavily populated planet. The humans' reaction was swift, three Phulark planets lay in ruin within weeks. Fleets were decimated and reduced to frozen tombs in space. The humans sent a message, "Failure to abide by our rules of war will result in a phage unlike you have ever seen or experienced in the past."
You see, the humans wanted us to understand their message, rules in war are necessary. If you fail to abide by them, the consequences are dire. And dire they were. The Phulark dropped chemicals on another human planet, causing untold pain and suffering on the population until they died a painful death. This time, there was no response from the humans. The Phulark thought that they had won, as did many other races. We were wrong, oh how we were wrong.
The humans subscribed to a philosophy of warfare that the galaxy left behind eons ago - psychological warfare. War is hell, and the humans wielded it like a musical conductor. First, the Phulark colonies went silent. Upon investigation, it was as if the population had been abducted. Then, the humans released an insidious virus that caused the Phulark to revert to their more animalistic nature. Entire planets succumbed to rabidity. The humans offered one last chance, relent and we will stop here, and now. Fail to relent, and the galaxy will know true horror.
I wish we would have listened, I wish we would have known the hell that was about to be unleashed upon us. The humans swept aside our fleets as if they were dust. How the humans advanced their tech so quickly we never could understand. But that wasn't what scared us, it was the turn that they dropped by the millions on our core worlds.
The turned were the colonists that were abducted and turned into cybernetic monsters equipped with all manners of horrid weaponry. Acid, flamethrowers, blister agents, nerve agents, microwave and x-ray weapons. The Phulark fell, we are no more.
I come to you, great council, to heed my warning, If you go to war with the humans, abide by their rules. If I were you, do everything in my power to avoid war and avoid my people's fate.
----------------------------------
Check out the other novel by clicking my profile.
My P'atreon:
( https://www.*atreon.com/Sokdavid ) Replace the * with p
My YT Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA_o7H0XZmHnnX0UlvGP4Yg
My Facebook Page :
https://www.facebook.com/P.S.David123/
Or
Sokdavid Gaming on Facebook
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone