Advantage number one of having crammed our development of spacecraft into only ten years: "Holy shit we know how to mass produce so many liquid explosives that we can get to be stable for just long enough, you have no idea." -- RecklessPrudence
It's said that anything interesting enough to propel a spacecraft for long distances in a relatively short time is also interesting enough to be a weapon. And it's usually said by humans, who tended to develop the weapons first and think about propulsion potential later.
In retrospect, it's amazing they survived to set foot on other planets.
Blem Tarkitt was certainly having trouble believing that they had. "Your kind strapped small vessels to explosives featuring hydrogen and oxygen."
"Directed explosives," clarified Shayde. "Rockets. Light one end and the rest of it goes up, up and away. No' up in a fireball."
"But the first use of these... rock-ettes? Was combat?"
"Oh aye, strikin' at the enemy from far enough away tae not get hit back's always been sommat of a goal wi' my lot," she said cheerfully. "And then we went and invented a weapon that everyone was bloody terrified tae use in war, but we had tae prove it, so everyone as had 'em kept settin' 'em off in their own backyard. And then they wondered about the cancer clusters, the right 'nanas."
"I fail to understand the correlation between fruit and these actions," Blem turned hir pleading eyes to Rael, translator and assistant to Ambassador Shayde.
"She's calling the people in charge very silly indeed," said Rael the JOAT.
"Why use explosions to leave your planet at all?" said Blem. "Many other alternatives are less... endangering."
Shayde shrugged. "Rockets are impressive and my lot love explosions? I dunno."
Deathworlders were insane.
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