Columbus Day

The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day, a brutal, sudden strike that shattered the illusion of humanity's peaceful existence. Our blue marble, Earth, became just another conquest, much like the lands discovered centuries ago, leaving us reeling and vulnerable. Just when the skies above twinkled with the promise of utter annihilation, a new fleet appeared, the Kristang, their advanced starships hammering the Ruhar and seemingly driving them back. We thought we were saved, rescued from one monstrous alien by another, more benevolent power.

As a U.S. Army Sergeant named Joe Bishop, I found myself thrust from fighting in Nigeria to the cold, unforgiving vacuum of space, part of a newly formed UN Expeditionary Force. We hitched a ride on Kristang ships, eager to aid our new allies in their war against the Ruhar, wherever they thought we could be useful. The galaxy was far bigger, far more complex, and infinitely more dangerous than we could have ever imagined.

But it was all lies. Every bit of it. The grand alliance, the heroic rescue – it was a deception woven with threads of alien politics and self-interest. The Ruhar, it turned out, weren't our true enemies. Our supposed saviors, the Kristang, were. They had simply used us, a primitive species, as pawns in their own protracted conflict, throwing humanity into a war we had no business being in, and certainly no hope of winning.

My journey took an unexpected turn when I encountered Skippy, an ancient, highly advanced artificial intelligence. Or, as I often think of him, a magnificent, beer-can-shaped alien with an ego as vast as the cosmos and a sarcastic wit sharper than any blade. Skippy, despite his often infuriating condescension, became my unlikely partner. He was the key to understanding the bewildering galactic politics, the true nature of the alien races, and frankly, the only reason humanity stood a ghost of a chance.

Together, this snarky AI and I began to unravel the tangled web of betrayals and hidden agendas. We learned that the universe was a place where alliances shifted like sand and trust was a luxury we couldn't afford. With Skippy's unparalleled knowledge and my stubborn human resolve, we started to navigate a path through the cosmic chaos, fighting not just for survival, but for the truth. Our mission quickly became clear: we had to find a way to extricate humanity from a war where we were merely expendable fodder, even if it meant turning against those who claimed to be our allies.