text: System note: The following is translated into a language the reader is familiar with. The choice of words may sometimes sound unusual or simple. This results from the fact that some of the original languages of these texts haven't been spoken for millions of your solar circumnavigations. Most of the species don't exist anymore. The records are still preserved to document historical events. # Krex loves her bar. It is a small building, rarely visited, not much money to get, but the visitors are usually happy to find a shelter this far outside the inhabited systems. Most visitors are miners, traveling through the asteroid belts, the cargo bays full of ores, who want to relax one or two days before returning to the core. Of course, usually she's serving lizards here, mostly her own kind of Agamas, often geckos too. Once an iguana visited this place, but their planets are on the other side of the galaxy, so they rarely travel to this part of space. But recently, this new species visits her bar, too. They joined the galactic civilization just recently, causing trouble wherever they show up. Their furry bodies are like an insult to Krex’s eyes, but they are ambitious and bring good money. At least most of the time. Sometimes they enjoy to cause as much damage as possible, and sometimes Krex doesn't even know what they're doing, like today. Three of them are already there, laughing and drinking when suddenly, the door bursts open. "Careful there", Krex shouts, but freezes the next moment. A fourth just enters, the pupils narrow, the whiskers twitching. The laser weapon on her hip is mandatory, they all carry one. But Krex has never seen one of them actually use these weapons, they usually prefer close combat. One of the others shouts, "Hensutu!" Was it a word in their language, or a name, maybe? The newcomer puts her ears on, pushes out her claws and hisses while turning towards the one who shouted. The other one pushes her claws out, too, digs them into table and floor - probably to enhance her grip - and jumps out of her chair and across the table, approaching the newcomer quickly. Everything looks like a fight is about to start, until she puts her hands on the newcomer's shoulders and lowers her head. Only now does Krex notice that the new one's ears have risen again and are opened towards the other one. "Sister. It's been a while", the newcomer says, lowering her head too, pushing their foreheads together with a growl. "May I introduce you to my sons? We're celebrating their adulthood! Please, join us!" The newcomer nods, then pushes the other one - her sister? - aside to step towards the bar, towards Krex who observes them nervously. "Do you serve some kind of milk?" "I... Yes, sure. Do you want plain milk or something special?" "Rum and milk, 50/50 in that order." Krex thinks for a moment, then she puts a Glass on the bar. "Are you kidding me?" Before Krex really understands what's going on, the glass is thrown aside, falling towards the ground and breaking into a thousand pieces. "What are we going to do with a single glass? We're four!" "Oh... Of course. I'm sorry." She puts a large jug on the counter and reaches for the milk, just to be grabbed on her wrist by the guest. Nervously, she looks at the twitching tail of her guest, knowing that this can be a terrible sign. "When you're trying to anger me, you're doing a good job. What did I say about the order?" Krex freezes, thinking for a moment. Then she nods and nervously reaches for the rum, watching her customer carefully, prepared to stop in case something else is wrong. "50/50 you said?" The fur-covered head nods slowly, and so Krex starts to pour the rum into the jug. Next she fills it up with milk, relaxing when she notices the satisfied nodding of her customer. "See? You aren't as stupid as you look. This probably won't be the last one, you know where we are." With these words, the furry hand grabs the jug and the strange woman turns around. Events like this, demonstrating how aggressive this species can seem, frequently happen around the galaxy, wherever these creatures show up. And somewhere already sits a council of scaled participants and discusses how to deal with them. # "What, you want to be captain? All right, come here if you dare!" Hensutu just returned from her trip to the bar. One of her nephews chose to join her crew, but during their very first meeting with their captain, he challenged him. Sauksez is used to it. A kitten, just grown up, who wants to prove themselves, usually starts at the head of the pack. And so, he fought off almost every new crew member on the first day. He actually likes it because this way he can prove regularly that he isn't captain for nothing. And this one, too, will soon have figured out his place. The fight doesn't last long. They rarely do, and over the last few years the result has always been the same: Sauksez stays the ship's captain and the new one submits to him. He'll search and challenge other crew members soon, until, in a few days, his position aboard the ship is settled. Sauksez turns towards Hensutu. "Why exactly did you bring this one here?" "He’s from my sister, the one from the same litter as me. She asked me for it when I met her in a bar." "I was afraid you picked up a stray. Not that I would have refused him then, he's a strong fighter. But you’ve proven yourself, so a relative of yours is particularly welcome." "Thank you", Hensutu replies while bowing down to her captain. He dislikes to compliment, so this was worth a lot for her. Or did he only acknowledge the litter they had together? Whatever it is, Hensutu just feels more valuable because of it. Then she turns around to go to the cantina. Her nephew would find his way alone from here, and she had an appointment. As usual, when both are aboard, she eats lunch with her daughter Zeanah. But today isn't usual. Of course, they meet and sit down for lunch, but as they sit, talk and eat, they are interrupted again and again by young men who try to flirt with Zeanah and show off in front of her. At some point - the fourth or fifth just left - Hensutu stands up and shouts: "The next one trying to mate with my daughter while we eat will have to collect his teeth from the floor!" A young man stops a few steps away, indecisive, looking back and forth between the two. Hensutus growl tells him that she's serious, so he turns around and leaves. She sighs. "First day?" "The third, actually", Zeanah responds shyly. "So there are only seven days left. But overall, the first time as far as I know?" Her daughter nods. "You really should try to set some boundaries. Otherwise, they will never leave you alone." "I'll try." "And next time, please warn me in time. It’s annoying enough when I’m in heat myself, but if I ever have to watch them behave like that to you again, I’m probably gonna kill someone." # "We really need to do something", an iguana demands. "They're terrorizing our people wherever we meet them!" "What's the problem?" One of the eel-people asks. Most fishes haven't even seen a cat yet, their habitats are just too different, and they rarely have a reason to contact each other. "The problem is their attitude. They're proud, arrogant and selfish. They act as if everything's their property, and what they don't like they damage. It's a wonder that so few people died yet." "Are their claws poisonous or something? I've heard stories about a scratch from them developing into a deadly disease in multiple cases." "Although they are very clean, they usually do not care about cleaning their claws. These cases you’ve heard of were probably infections with unknown bacteria." "Clean, you say? They *smell* terribly", a serpent comments. "Would you please stop bothering us with your opinion? We're talking about facts, and they *do* spend a lot of time cleaning their fur." "I'd suggest sending them an offer. If they calm down around other species, following common rules of politeness, they're free to go. If they continue to treat other races like shit, then we must restrict their access to our facilities. Anyone against it?" Nobody reacts. "Then it's settled. I’ll contact their diplomats. Any other topics?" # Hensutu doesn't like the idea of visiting her daughter. It's the seventh day of her being in heat, she most likely is with a man right now. But she is the best diplomat they have, and the situation demands her attention. When reaching for the door, she hears something. Yes, Zeanah is with a man right now, so Hensutu waits patiently for their noises to stop. And then a little longer. Finally, she pushes the button. Usually, a bell would announce her request to enter, but the system was set to make an exception for her, the door opens right away. She steps in, surprising both, Zeanah and her partner. "Mom!" "Hey. I see, you met your cousin." "My what?" "Not now. You're required on the bridge, it's urgent." With these words, Hensutu turns around and leaves the room again. "My cousin...?" Zeanah asks the man she was cuddling with moments ago, who looks just as surprised as she felt. He hesitates a moment, but then nods slowly. She shakes her head, jumps out of the bed and gets dressed. "You'll find your way out, I assume." That wasn't a question, she rushes out without waiting for a response. "What's up?" she asks as soon as she closed up to her mother. "Your skills are required. The scaled ones gave us an ultimatum, and we need your help to negotiate the terms." "An ultimatum? But why?" "Seems like our habits aren't very popular among them." Zeanah nods while trying to keep up with her mother. "Did you at least get your heat under control?" "Yes, but... My cousin! And you're requesting a heads-up from *me*?" "Don't worry, it's not as rare for our people as you might think. And you're far enough away so that there are no problems." "Did you, you know...?" "No, but a few of my siblings. It's really no big deal." Around the next corner, Zenah finally finds herself on the bridge. At first, she stops, looking around where to go next, but the captain clearly shows her to come closer. She follows his order and steps in front of a giant screen. From there, the diplomat of the scaled ones watches her attentively. "Greetings. I am Zeanah, this ship's diplomat. How can we help you?" "Simple. Your people need to behave better." "What are you talking about?" "I am Grat, from the Gecko Conglomerate", the lizard starts to speak. "And I'm contacting you with an urgent matter. We're receiving reports from all over the galaxy about cats being rude, destroying other peoples properties, fighting with each and everyone about nothing. Thus far we had two dozen deaths among the lizards, and at least one fish-ship reported a torpedo fired at them. We want to solve this peacefully, but each of our previous attempts has been ignored or ridiculed. If your people can’t offer a solution, we have to come up with a punishment for your kind." "That sounds reasonable", Zeanah responds. "I hope you do understand that I can't speak for my entire species in this case. We'll need to contact our council to establish a ruleset that will stop these unpleasant incidents. Something that's enforceable against every cat out there." "Of course we do. Please keep us informed about every step towards progress. I'm delivering a frequency for direct communication, and I'll permit you personally to contact us without any obstacles. Zeanah was your name?" "Correct, Zeanah from the silverfur-tribe. Thank you." As soon as the connection is closed, she turns towards the captain. "I’m sorry, but this matter concerns our entire race, we must return to Nekkai immediately!" "You're sorry? It’s a diplomatic incident of interstellar magnitude. You're in charge of the ship!" Sauksez responds, steps aside and gestures towards the captain's seat. "Are you serious?" "Do I look like I'm joking?" Zeanah looks across the room to her mother in search for help, but Hensutu nods, smiling. "The rules are unmistakable. In case of a diplomatic incident, the highest diplomat aboard temporarily replaces the captain. Congratulations, you’re the commanding officer." Zeanah puffs out her chest and tightens her shoulders, steps forward and sits down on the captain’s chair. All eyes are focused on her. "Set a course to Nekkai. And send them a summary of the situation", she commands. A strange sense of satisfaction fills her when everyone around her immediately begins to work to follow her instructions. # Zeanah had already seen the negotiations threatened when she had to interrupt them shortly before conclusion. But the negotiating partners agreed that the birth of her Children was more important, even in this situation. The next day she was already back to continue the negotiations, and after a total of seven months, they are finally concluded. Now she's sitting there beside the bed - some would probably call it a box, but for some reason, kitten have always preferred this design against every other option - and watches her children sleeping in peace. Lost in thought, she reaches into the box and caresses the head of one of her children. Of course, this idyll could not last forever. Annoyed by the sound, she grabs her personal communicator and looks at the display. Grat. She immediately accepts the connection. "Hey, Grat. How can I..." the connection is interrupted right away. One of her ears goes flat. What did just happen? She tries to establish a new connection to her scaled friend, but the device doesn't reach him. She shakes her head, twitches with her shoulders and put's the device aside. Then she turns back towards her kitten. One of them just woke up from the sounds. She carefully grabs it, lifts it out of the box and cuddles it gently. # "Are you kidding me?" the communication system asks. The geckos just received a chat request from a cat's ship and responded right away. They were in peace after all. "Beg you pardon?" The lizard at the comms asks confused. "You're trying to dictate us how to behave?" the cat on the other end asks. "Who do you think we are?" "I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about." "We just got the order. Stay calm, don't do anything that could provoke, play along? Who do you think you are?" The lizard looks back at his captain - the diplomat Grat, who just finished the negotiations with the cat's diplomat. "What should I do?" "Try to calm them down. They’re obviously upset, probably a misunderstanding." He nods, turning comms back online. "I am sorry for this, but it's probably not as you thought. We negotiated..." "Not as we thought? Are you calling us stupid? You're trying to command us around!" "Commander", another lizard interrupts. "They're charging something." "Something?" "The instruments can't make sense of it. It's just energy building up." "Shields are up?" "Of course." "Give them a warning shot. We're not fooling around, they need to understand that." "Done." The com system lights up again. "Are you stupid? Can't you even aim straight?" "Boost the shields. Whatever they're doing, we'll just defend and try to calm them down!" "I can't." "What?" "Shields already are at 115%. That's 5 percent above boost level. 120%. 125%! And raising!" "Contact Zeanah! Maybe she can stop this and explain what's going on." "Contacting." "Commander! I don't know how, but... 175%!" The communication system establishes a connection. "Hey, Grat. How can I..." Then, every system shuts down, all lights turn off while the shrill whir of an overloaded generator is heard. The next moment, light around Grat seems to shine while the system continues to overload, and with the silence of deep space, his ship explodes - every life on board is wiped out. # "Captains log. Tamesis, captain of the lantern's fleet. It's been three months since the war started. Whenever the lizards tried to contact them, they were blown up in a matter of seconds. Millions died. We still didn't figure out how they're doing that, but our ships are seemingly not affected. It took us some time to figure out that they don't use shield technology. It seems like a miracle that they managed to conquer space without it. Today we're approaching planet Nekkai, the fifth planet of their home system. We'll finally end this disaster. Log end." "Captain?" Tamesis flaps his fins to turn towards the speaking officer. "Yes?" "We're ready." "Well, then fire, please. Make it end." The officer pushes a button. On their screen, a view of the planet is shown. After a moment, a tiny, harmless looking, shiny ball reaches its atmosphere. As soon as it touches it, a destructive wave of fire runs around the globe, but the tiny light continues its way. A bright light is visible at the location it hit the surface. Red lines start to cover the planet, fractures in the ground, lava raising, and after a while, not more than a minute, a silent explosion rips the planet apart. "Captain? There are still ships of them around." "Let them be. We just destroyed their home world. If they want to fight, we'll destroy them. If they choose to die in peace, who are we to refuse it?" -- A few days later, the lizards establish a connection. "What do you want?" Tamesis asks uninterested. "A huge fragment of Nekkai is heading towards the third planet of their system!" "And?" "There are lizards on that planet!" "Are they intelligent? Do they have some signs of culture or civilization?" "Not yet, they're wild animals. But..." "We can't interfere to protect any amphibian across the universe. We have to defeat the remaining cats!" "But these are different!" "They're huge and stupid, aren't they? I just checked our scanners. Calm down, the universe will survive losing one of your variations." # Hensutu hugged her daughter tight, trying to calm her down, to stop the tears flowing. "It's alright. We're still here." "But so many have died! Millions!" Zeanah replies sobbing. "I know. Let's never forget them. We'll hide. We'll rebuild somewhere else." "What about my children?" "I'm sure we'll find a sun for them to enjoy. A small system at the border of the galaxy to settle down. They'll be fine, I promise." # And so, the third planet of the system got hit by an asteroid. The lizards living there were eradicated, the fish didn't care and, after time passed, the planet developed a new species that would become intelligent enough to join the galactic alliance. Nobody noticed the millions of fragments, carrying genetic samples of this horrible species, spreading it across the system, the entire galaxy. By the time the third planet had recovered from the impact, dozens of planets had already been discovered on which four-legged beasts had developed, with velvet paws and deadly claws and teeth. Where the remaining ships of the cats have disappeared, however, could never be found out.