Retorian Traders and Letu Collective

Hey guys, a short one today, I'm thinking about making a chapter every day but only a thousand or so words, and slowly increasing the word count (If I'm motivated enough).

So yeah, this is gonna be the new normal until I say otherwise, (Or do you guys prefer the former style of two-three chapters a week with 2K words? Tell me if you do here!)

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Retorians, a humanoid species covered in scales of different colors, with a bulky build and a very short height, their tallest reaching one and a half meters tall, are a very materialistic and selfish race, and their society reflects this.

A capitalist's dream is a simple way to describe this civilization, with pragmatism and ruthlessness dominating the culture of this budding power, it is a haven for the businessmen of the galaxy.

Or that's what it could be if it wasn't on the edge of total annihilation, and since everyone only looked out for themselves in this civilization, it took longer for the people to rally together, while still trying to suppress their competition of course.

There is nothing that can stop the competition between megacorporations, not even a universal threat, how could a measly Hive hope to stop selfishness at its core?

still, they all did the bare minimum to survive, they can't get their next paychecks without surviving after all.

The originally thriving markets turned desolate with time, and the more desolate they became the more the species came together, still, it took a long time, and at that point, it was far too late.

They originally had a few colonies, but those have long since been completely consumed, the planets rendered uninhabitable by the Hive.

They could feel the sting when the Planets were overrun, so much money wasted for nothing... Oh, and someone died, that too...

But the money...

So, they all came together at the end, all desperate for survival like the countless others that came before them, but they failed, time and time again, it was an absolute slaughter.

They had the technology and manpower to do just as well as the humans did, but there is a devastating difference between the two, and that is duty.

Human soldiers are molded and subtly manipulated to become perfect war machines, constantly watched and reminded of just how great their country is, how evil everyone else is, and how much everyone appreciates their service.

Such things don't work on the Retorians, the most effective way to convince someone of their kind to work, or risk themselves, is a big fat paycheck, it's in their genes to love material things, why should they care about glory, honor, and pride?

And while that does promrote competition and hard work, it means that in the face of real danger, they fall apart, as the desire to survive overpowers their greed very quickly.

Hence, all they could do is beg for someone else to save them, and pray that they have enough to satisfy their demands afterward.

They begged and begged, but no one answered for a very long time, only when they had a few systems remaining surrounding their capital did someone finally answer.

The Azburgian Interstellar Empire, a nation completely and utterly incomprehensible to them, serving out of pride and duty! What fools!

Still, they were strong, very strong, strong enough to hopefully protect them, but they needed to help them.

They did, but their cowardly nature still shone through, causing the Azburgians to confiscate their entire flotilla, including their prized "STAR" flagship.

Despite what shitty warriors they made, the engineering behind their creations couldn't be disputed, with the colossal ship being twice as large as the cruiser, it quickly became more and more known within the Empire.

A lot of people were surprised when they found out that the commander wasn't human but, in fact, a Retorian, one who was an exceptional general, one which wouldn't cower from combat.

A rare thing, but the Army gladly took him in and allowed him to continue leading the ships with a human crew to support him.

Now armed with a few more ships that fit in the Cruiser category and one that was given its own "Battleship" class, the Empire fought back the Hive, forcing it further and further back.

The Hive seemed to be significantly stronger though, almost as if pooling resources from other parts of its territory, Its resistance exponentially increased, now again suppressing the humans with raw quality and mass.

Still, it could no longer threaten the Empire's territory, as the Fleet has made huge headway from the Empire and the Retorian traders, making a massive buffer zone that stretched in all directions like a protective shield.

Slowly, the shield was becoming smaller, but the Empire now had decades before the Hive would get close enough to threaten Earth again.

The frustration the Hive felt could be seen in the ships when they fought, with them becoming more erratic the longer the battle lasted, the Hive seemed quite impatient.

The fleet prioritized getting to the other zone the Hive mentioned to them, hoping for further reinforcements but was disappointed to find nothing of interest except barren worlds and a small moon covered in debris and collapsed buildings.

They were late, or that's what they thought, but they discovered a few small ships, all not sending out a single signal or fluctuation at first, but then bombarding their ships with messages.

At first, the Imperial Fleet understood nothing, and send messages back in their own language, hoping the aliens would connect the dots, but they were rather surprised when the aliens, in a matter of seconds, began speaking fluent English.

"Hello? Humans! Is that you?! Finally!" A small, rat-like creature spoke to Adam, its tone filled with relief and urgency.

"How do you know of us?" Adam asked, puzzled.

"You asked for help a while ago! And we detected it when we took our first steps out into the universe, we send signals back towards you but it seems they never reached you. Even worse, those disgusting things then attacked and killed everyone, we are the only ones left."

"We are very sorry to hear that."

"Don't be! Now that you are here it's time to get revenge! We will gladly help you with the Hive or whatever it is! As long as you provide us a refuge, of course, and don't worry, we have done some studying here and found some weakneses of the hive, oh it's gonna be so much fun..." A low chuckle gnashing of teeth could be heard at the end, perhaps their version of a chuckle or laugh, either way, the Azburgians readily took them in, and their reaserch proved indepsensible in the years to come.

That's how the Retorian Traders, the Azburgian Interstellar Empire, and the Letu Collective formed the first united front against the Hive, and it would face many challenges and trials in the future