The Autobiography Of An Alien

Chapter 1 - On First Impressions

Draft #3 - On first impressions

I, Rulshkka, am the leader of an entire planet. Spirits, I'm the leader of my entire Solar System, if you counted the three hundred asteroids orbiting a dwarf star as a Solar System. Well, I wouldn't really count it as such, but my friend tells me that if I don't include them, they'd get "sad" or some other nonsense...

***

Rulshkka groaned, staring at the screen balefully. Whenever he put claw to paper, he always seemed to get sidetracked. Writing was so difficult. He didn't know how some people did it. Thruul had recommended writing as a pastime to cope. Whatever that meant.

He was a Vokkrus. Vokkrus didn't write. They fought. Tooth and claw and everything in between. They were tall, muscular, and built for fighting. He was the Vokkra, for Spirit's sake. The epitome of warrior might. 

See, Vokkrus were inhabitants of planet A1-308, which was a small, rocky planet that orbited a white dwarf in the Andromeda Galaxy. His planet only harbored one intelligent species, and that was the Vokkrus, as it always had been and always will be. 

Until he accidentally abducted the human race. 

Well, it hadn't really been an accident. It had all started about two thousand years ago when one Vokkra before Rulshkka had decided to try his claw at space travel. They had quickly been approached by the Local Group Galactic Alliance, who presented them with a list of intergalactic laws. Obey them and the might of the Alliance would not fall on them. The Vokkrus were mighty foes to be reckoned with, certainly, but they were newly fledged to space. They obeyed. 

And they explored. Their spaceships advanced quickly, evolving with leaps and bounds. Warships were high on the previous Vokkra's priorities. When they had proven their might to the Alliance, they were exalted. The Vokkrus took to it like a Glouglossus to air. 

The previous Vokkrus ruled with an iron fist, just as his predecessors before him. When Rulshkka won the Competition forty years ago, with brutal efficiency, everyone had expected the same of him. However, he had bigger plans. 

Kindness was not something that occurred too commonly on A1-308. There were small snippets of it, here and there, but mostly, the Vokkrus were concerned only with their and their family's wellbeing. Anyone else, whether it be an acquaintance, stranger, or long-term friend, was simply an obstacle. Occasionally useful, but more often than not, an obstacle nonetheless. 

So, Rulshkka intended to set an example. And what better example than saving species from a dying planet? 

Well, his intentions had been good. Every Vokkrus before him had done some grand gesture to prove their worth as Vokkra. Frankly, the politics of it all were somewhat daunting, but Rulshkka knew that before he took the mantle. He had been thinking of what he'd do before he even stepped a claw into the Pit. 

He started small. Launching expeditions to nearby asteroids that had been speculated to harbor the smallest of lifeforms. They had found nothing, of course, but that didn't discourage him. He expanded the search, surpassing their small Solar System into others. He never stepped foot into any Solar Systems that were a part of the Alliance. Despite their rank within the group, he did not want to cause unnecessary war. It would be a headache. 

They found several planets that were on their way out. Preserving history had been one of Rulshkka's interests as a hatchling, so it was a no-brainer to take some of the hardier plants, insects, rocks, and everything in between back to his planet. Of course, they were carefully monitored and confined. Oftentimes, their planet's atmosphere and chemistry were a touch too different or oppressive for some species, and they died without warning. The more species they took, however, the better they were at preserving them.