Challenge #01458-C363: Protective Instinct
Left to my own devices, I am not very aggressive. But if you give me a small helpless person to defend I will conquer small European nations in their name. -- RecklessPrudence
There are certain things one should never, ever do in Galactic Society. You do not comment negatively about any other cogniscent's appearance. You do not engage a gravity drive in hyperspace. And you do not, under any circumstances, threaten a human's charge if that guarded body is a small, fragile life form.
All three of these examples are easily equally dangerous. The most noticeable example is Greenery Technician Pam and the Del'voq tourist named Krel.
It started, of course, with directions to the Elemeno.
"Oh, I know where that is," cooed Pam. "My shift's done, just let me change my boots and I can take you there."
They struck up an instant friendship, mostly due to human pack-bonding instinct, and chatted amiably on the Tram directly there. But it was when the Tarrakathi mercenaries, coming the other way down the stairs, made a comment about an easy meal... that all hell broke loose.
Witnesses agreed that the last coherent words from Pam, who had no prior record of violence, were "Don't you [EXPLETIVE DELETED] dare!" before she launched herself wholesale at a group of four armoured cogniscents, each four times her body mass.
The mercenaries all swore they were using every sign that they were joking. This didn't seem to matter, as their injuries and damage to their lifesuits was silent testimony to Pam's unusual rage. As were the dents in the hand-rails, the walls, and the stairs themselves. Pam only stopped when she noticed that Krel had fainted. At which point she, as well as numerous others, called for emergency medtech assistance on Stairwell #3475, Elemeno district.
Pam was treated for shock, and multiple contusions that she didn't notice until hours after the fact. Krel was simply treated for shock. The mercenaries, who now understood that some jokes were not meant for public exposure, agreed with Pam to split the Time owed for all medical treatments. And, of course, the danger rating of humans as a species went up.
[Image Copyright: 4045qd / 123RF Stock Photo]
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