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Humans were common in the universe, but mostly on interstellar missions. That's why Faja was excited for aer first off-planet job aboard the Missive; there was a human on board!
Ae was working in a mailroom sorting an intake bag into piles by destination when a sudden commotion came from the hall. A flask flew past aer face as ae looked out.
“I don’t care if they’re busy, I need the captain now!” screamed a quadrupedal being, jerking out of the grasp of a smaller bipedal staff member. They cantered forward and grabbed the flask from the ground and took a gulp, then glared down at Faja.
“Hey you! Take me to the cockpit.” Their grip was rough as they dragged aer out and threw aer in front of them. Tuscia had few offensive measures, so Faja walked. As they went, other beings retreated, calling into their comms for security.
“I had to cut my coffee break short for this,” yawned a someone as they stepped into the centaur’s path. “But nice to see I’ll be having an exciting trip. I’m Prak, he/they,” he smirked as he finished his introduction, “human.”
This was the human? Faja’s mind raced through what ae’d heard of the infamous species to try to predict their next move.
“Human or not, I’ll be speaking to the captain about this ship’s uninhabitability. It’s unacceptable!” the centaur growled.
“Sadly, the captain doesn’t want to hear what you want to say, and my job is making what the captain wants happen. I suggest you don’t resist.”
Humans were known to be fierce, but the centaur must weigh two or three times more than Prak. However, though Prak had no obvious offensive measures, Faja didn’t see any submissive posture coming from them.
The centaur pawed the ground and huffed a warning. Prak raised an eyebrow and lowered themself into a ready stance. Stepping forward, the centaur reared, towering above Prak.
Dodging their front legs, he slid to one side in order to brace himself against the wall and kick the centaur off balance. Then, as he took a blow from their claws, he flipped and jabbed his thumb into one of the centaur’s eyes. The centaur stumbled back, clutching at their face. Prak slid away, then dashed forward again, pulling out a tranquilizer patch.
He slapped it onto the centaur’s side and grabbed their back fur to direct their momentum away from the onlookers. He kept them away from the crowd until they finally took stumbling steps and fell to the ground, the last echoes of their clash fading away.
Prak stepped back, breathing heavily. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and turned to the crowd.
“Alright folks, move along. I’m tired and not in the mood for witness statements. I’m going to take a nap.” Personnel rushed forward to put restraints on the centaur and load them onto a trolly. Faja watched as the human bent, wincing, to rub his ankle.
“Um, shouldn’t you go to the med bay?” Faja asked tentatively. The human’s translator took a second, then they laughed.
“Not for just a strain. If I wrap it, my body will do the rest.”
“But Prak, ser, what about your internal bleeding?”
“The bruises? These are nothing. I can self heal them in a week or two.”
Faja looked at them in shock. Not only did humans fight well, they also could self heal to that extent? On Faja’s birth world, creatures had only one or the other. Humans were a more flexible species than ae had heard about, and ae was looking forward to learning more. Like Prak said earlier, this was going to be an exciting trip.