They Defy Reason

r/HFY
u/Im_yor_boi

The Coalition Citadel, the epicenter of the Galactic Accord, floated like a metallic god between the spiral arms of the Milky Way and Andromeda. A marvel of Xel'Thara's technology reverse-engineered, it pulsed with power and light, bonding a thousand species as one. It was peace forged out of war. And it was humans at the forefront of it all.

Sri'Akana walked within her own personal chambers, her taloned hands fluttering. The ceremonial armor of the Trelzari Order hung heavily on her shoulders, but she bore its weight with pride. Her people had conquered worlds before humanity had ever invented the wheel. They were born for war—six-limbed, carapace-wearing, with minds hardened for strategy and battle.

And still, when she encountered a human being in the hallway, it was she who nodded first.

It gnawed at her.

"Why?" she grumbled to herself, staring at her reflection. Her compound eyes strained. "Why do they receive so much reverence?"

They rarely fought. They never boasted. They gifted planets like trinkets at a bazaar just to make inferior species happy. And when insulted, they merely smiled. Always that accursed smile.