"The Humans are here."

We had said that laughing behind our cupped hands, with pity and second-hand embarrassment. The humans had literally stumbled their way onto the galactic scene, a simple one-planet species and barely civilized. Their lifespans were little longer than those of their ancestor apes and outside the backwater planet (that they insisted on calling 'Earth', even if most of its surface area was covered in water) they had only the tiniest of settlements. Into citadel space they had come with simple iron ships that brute-forced their way through the dimensions to achieve faster-than-light speeds. When they had made first contact, they actually had to send a ship back to inform their people because they didn't have any way of communicating instantaneously over even tiny distances in space. Grudgingly their civilisation was acknowledged by the council, our vote was not behind that.

It only made them become the most annoying peddlers of the galaxy. The galactic council was based on contracts between the many species in citadel space. Contracts that were debated, evaluated, negotiated, rewritten and refined usually over a hundred cycles before there was any hope of approval from both sides. How could these simple beings with a lifespan not even half that understand these proceedings? They didn't, the humans rudely ignored all that and just sent envoys out to offer pacts and agreements no one cared about. "The humans are here", we said with annoyance, tired of their many times they stood on our doorstep to attempt feeble diplomatic discourse. More out of pity than anything else we gave them some scraps and FTL communication technology (in the hopes they would at least stop visiting in person) and signed off on their seemingly worthless offerings.

One thing that was noticeable about them was their hardiness. Coming from a world with a vast range of climates, they could adapt to practically any living conditions encountered on other citadel species worlds. And for some reason they enjoyed moving across half the galaxy to live in a jarringly different culture (gleefully adopting whatever outlandish social rules these had). Within not even one of their lifetimes, they had people living on the many thousands of planets of whatever species foolishly allowed them to come. We saw these places marred by the presence of these over-enthusiastic apes and whenever one of the popular destinations of our people was overrun with them, we turned away with disgust and said "The humans are here." Our own planets were kept clean of them and we did not allow them to settle anywhere in our space.

More cycles passed as we noticed a new trend. The younger ones of our people began seeking the fortune in the stars, away from the stability and security of our civilized systems. We found the cause of that to be the humans. They foolishly jumped headlong into colonizing barely habitable planets, surviving only because of their hardiness. Surprisingly, they then set the groundwork to terraform them, working on creating conditions other council species could survive in as well. These colonies were flocked to by many, promising a honest life for hard work and offering cheap living space even for the largest of families. "The humans are here", became a call for willing settlers, assuring every being of a safe haven that could be shared by all.

As the humans went forth to tame the most dangerous regions of the galaxy, they brought back a wealth of resources. Bypassing the galactic council again, they began trading with anyone willing. Within another one of their short lifetimes they had built a network of exchange that rivalled the official citadel platforms. We could not avoid joining into trade with them, as they offered the most coveted wares from many different cultures that had previously been hidden behind unfinished agreements, some for thousands of cycles. As one of our planets after the other established trade routes with the humans, with hidden joy we said "The humans are here" when their ships turned up on our ports, promising a new influx of goods and wealth and leading to new prosperity for all our people.

That upswing ended abruptly when in a political move (that had not thought to even be possible) we were exiled from the galactic council. An opponent pushed us into disgrace in front of all the citadel species, instantly severing the many millennia old pacts and cutting our access to the FTL travel network. In less than a cycle our civilisation was practically shattered to pieces, each planet on its own and powerless to defend itself against the planned invasion from our opponent. With travel blockages set up in all our systems it was clear that utter annihilation was their set goal. As we stood before our ruin, a representative of the humans contacted us to offer their aid and protection, pointing at the treaties we had long since forgotten about. We thanked them for their honour and refused as we were staring at death and there was no need for them to pointlessly die with us. They did not listen and sent their iron battleships that circumvented the blockages through their brute-force FTL travel method. Their considerable military might was hitherto unknown. And as they jumped in by the ten-thousands in all our inhabited systems, we cried out "The humans are here!", with tears in our eyes and rekindled hope. They stood with us steadfast, weathering countless strikes before our opponent gave up the direct approach in frustration.

It took many cycles before we were able to re-establish formal communication with the galactic council and many more to clear our species from the false allegations before we could finally reinstate the old contracts. Back in power, we pinned the blame on our opponent and from that we gained leverage that we immediately used to incite the greatest assembly of political leaders in the history of the galactic council. Now we stand before all of them to invite the humans into the citadel and onto the podium. Our trade partners, our allies, our friends. And through rising cheers - with pride, conviction and deepest admiration - we say: "The humans are here."