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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Speedhump23 on 2024-12-25 14:22:03+00:00.

(I can’t believe I forgot to post this back in 2022. PSA: Re-read your story folder to see what your drafts are up to.)

A very young Frey-esh had been stooging round a small solar system on the cold edge of the galaxy, scooping hydrogen from a Zell class system’s gas giant, when he detected the transmissions. After a quick detour, he came across the ship. It was bleeding gasses and broadcasting radio across all spectrums. Scans showed a micro meteoroid had punctured the rear half of the ship. It was a simple repair job for his droids, luckily the rules for first contacts were well written, so he was allowed to help a space faring race. In the time it took his scanners to do their read of the damage, Esh’s computers had analysed and translated the languages in the stricken ship’s data banks. It was odd, Zell class systems rarely had space capabilities.

Captain Loche was surprised when the message came through. At first, he thought it might be the Yanks or the Chinese ships wanted to chat again. The X2056 space race had been a world popular event. The rules were simple, build a ship capable of getting from Mars orbit to the asteroid belt and back, after grabbing a sample form Ceres, Vesta or Hygiea. The first ship to collect the sample and return to earth would win the Space X2 prize. The Scottish entry “Comet II” had used the Solar sails and the ion III boosters to get the early lead, accelerating to their max speed towards Vesta.

After over a month of the acceleration, Loche’s ship had just turned round for the slow down burn (A smart chemical rocket was being used to help give the ions a hand, as the sun was not likely to move to the other side of the solar system, just to allow the solar sails to work.) It was just as the speed had started to drop, that the micro-meteor had hit the ship. The auto systems had blown the booster off and away from the ships as soon as the computers had detected the issue, saving the ship from breaking apart.

Realistically, the chance that one of the other ships would be able to do anything was almost non-existent. While they were required to be able to assist others if needed, the rules had not really been enforced. Loche had sent a message to his family back towards the Phobos tracking station and started to work the problems. Having grown up in a RAF family, Loche knew all the stories about long distance sailors and astronauts who had only themselves and their on-board gear to fix their problems. Sadly, he quickly came to the conclusion that no amount of gaffa tape would allow him to get his Ion III drive working again, and without the chemical engine (Last seen heading up from the elliptical), it would not matter. The Sail and ion drives were good for slow steady acceleration, but the chemical engine was used to help with the deceleration needed for the approach to the asteroid. (The two-part drive would then have been able to be used on the return trip as well.).

After a few hours of checking, Loche noticed the flashing light on his comm board. An incoming signal? He had already heard the message from the X2056 Space race committee, they were looking to see what could be done, from a fast burner probe loaded with extra rockets, to seeing if any of the other ships were able to assist. So far, they were working on it. The other ships in the race had all checked in, offering what help they could and his wife had even had time to send a message. No one else was due to contact him for the next few hours, so… who was talking?

The voice which came over the radio was obviously a computer generated one, but the surprising thing was when he responded, the answer came back seconds later. “Damaged ship, are you in need of assistance?”

The return of the Comet II to Mars was news across the system. The story of the Scottish space ship being towed back to the space station by the “Small” freighter, piloted by the alien being named Frey-esh, would be taught in history books across the Terran system for decades to come. The “alien” who was invited to the Scottish lands owned by Captain Loche’s family, to spend a few weeks in the highlands as a way to say thanks also made the news. It seemed that Frey-esh loved the history of the highlands, and even grew to appreciate the sounds of bagpipes. (Although he had been startled the first evening he heard the piper.)

This first contact opened the human system to the galaxy and spurred trade and technological advancements. The galaxy’s various peoples had been amazed that sentients had evolved on the third planet, having classed it as a death world many millennia ago, and had avoided it since then. It was only that Frey-esh had been scooping hydrogen to refuel his engines that he had been there to hear the distress call.

Humanity would go on to spread across their “sector” of the galaxy, providing a rather unique death worlder’s view on many problems. These ideas, generated and then sold by the humans, would enable them to buy their way up the civilisation ladder and secure their place in their selected systems. This allowed the quality of life in the human held systems to grow to be above the dreams of many of the visiting races. All were welcome as long as they came in friendship.

Being such a successful race did attract a few of the less savory races or organisations in the quadrant. Many thought these newly discovered beings would be a push over and would be enslaved before there could be a response from their patrons.  These same patrons soon learnt that the humans were able to defend themselves. Using weapons and tactics which most attackers would not believe such a young race would have developed to date.

Captain Loche’s family stayed in space, his descendants continued to join the various arms of the United Kingdom or later on, the Kingdom of Scotland’s navies and marine forces.  The family of Frey-esh invested their discovery and rescue bounties well.  Buying a small system in a down spin-ward cluster. Building the system into a great resource and holiday destination. While it was never a rich system, after a few hundred years, Frey-esh and his family were living a comfortable life.

The raiders attacked the main city in the night. Their ships took out the space station and solar light mirrors before Frey-esh could even get out of his bed. The years were starting to take their toll on his frame, even though his species lived for many hundreds of “years” at a time, his had been full, and his joints ached. Looking at the readouts on the forces dropping towards their planet, he realised that they were in trouble. A message was sent off, but the cost of defending such a small system from a group of pirates was mostly out of the range of a planet like theirs. The galaxy was a tough place, and rescuing a small ship was nothing, compared to dedicating space, air and ground forces to defeat pirates.

A local week after the pirates had landed and started to enslave the family and their workers, Frey-esh was looking out the small window in his cell. The pirates had kept him alive to force his family to comply, but were starting to get angry at the continued resistance to their new rule. Just then, Frey-esh say a flash from the sky, as something shot through the sky towards the space port where he had been placed. The pirate’s defence systems did not engage it, as they seemed to think it was just a meteor. As soon as the meteor hit the ground outside the space port, the noise began.

Frey-esh heard the sound and started to laugh. His captors came to his cell to demand to know what the sound was, but he was laughing too much to answer. They grabbed one of his daughters and demanded what the sound was, and what it meant. Frey-ews listened for a moment, and started to laugh as well. “Oh, you are all dead… but you might just survive if you surrender now. It is way past the time to run.”

The leader of the pirates was no push over. She had claimed a dozen planets for her group, and was wanted in too many systems to count on even her 4 hands. Looking at the eyes of the girl in front of her, she was startled to see the conviction in her captive’s eyes. “What do you mean? Why should we be scared of sound?” Frey-ews looked at the pirate… “if memory serves, the music is “Scotland the Brave”, which has been looping a few times, but dad always told me, once “Caber Feidh” starts to play, you are screwed.”

Just then, the music stopped. The pirate leader looked at Frey-ews, “Ha, the music has stopped, it was nothing… you bluff!” Just then, the music started again, and Frey-esh started to smile… “I know this tune…”

The defensive guns on the grounded pirate ships started to turn towards the sky, then particle beams started to rain down and cleanly pick off the pirate ships and any pirate caught in the open.

Some pirates panicked and tried to run, but none of their ships made it off planet. Any pirate caught outside was killed by a surgical particle beam, shot from a ship too far up to even be seen with the naked eye.

The Marine detachment which landed at the space port negotiated the surrender of the last holed up pirates, on the grounds that none of their prisoners were harmed.

Frey-esh was assisted outside to meet the officer in charge. “Sir, Captain Samantha Loche-Winters at your service, glad you are your people are ok.” Frey-esh looked at the force arrayed before him, in parade lines, as if they were ready to meet a primary planet’s le…

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