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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/FarmWhich4275 on 2025-06-25 11:30:33+00:00.

One century ago, not so many generations ago, for us at least, a human appeared above our home. At the time we were only beginning to explore the trappings of gunpowder and explosives, guns were a long way off. Beast drawn carts were still in widespread use, and we were only barely understanding the basic concepts of mass production, on very small scales. The biggest industry, if you could even call it that, were the Glass Blowing villages that produced a ceremonial glass goblet. Entire families earning their livings creating these things. They were used a lot in rituals for the church and whatnot, but mostly for what humans called ‘birthdays’.

Simple enough. We didn’t have much of an existence, but it was a peaceful one. WE had, by that point at least, explored and conquered most of our world’s landmass. We were at the point where entire cities were starting to be planned out in far away lands waiting for new entrepreneurs to make the journey and make their mark. Imagine our shock, horror and all other emotions, when outside one of our national capitals, a human ship appears. It didn’t take us long to notice you know… Giant bugger-off ship that’s a mile long suddenly appears in the skies of your homeworld.

Not exactly a thing you can easily miss after all. One moment it was a bright sunny day with crisp breeze and gentle Fall tides… Next thing you know half the city is in a state of panic as a large starship appears in orbit. It warped in relatively close as well, close enough we could actually see its array of cannons and weapons. At first, it didn’t do anything but move over different spots around the planet. Hovering over cities and just… sitting there, staring at us. We of course were in a full state of panic. We had no idea what it was, what to do about it, or anything. We knew nothing.

We were still early in the stages of exploring our local star system. The telescope, as a dedicated means to search the stars, was still in its infancy in terms of technology after all. The few telescopes we had at that point weren’t exactly top-of-the-line. The few that could see it were making us nervous. Although we only recently figured out what cannons could be, we definitely knew the concept enough to register just how heavily armed that thing was. By modern standards, it would be classed as a Heavy Battlecruiser.

It hovered around us for about a month. One long month of panic as it slowly strove its way around our pale green skies and blue clouds. Every time it came to a halt, we felt a presence, as if we were being watched. And as it turned out… we were being watched. By one man. Julius Marcus Caesar, callsign ‘Boss Roma’. One of the humans so-called ‘Coursairs’. A strange breed of creature to be certain. I’m fairly certain by now you know about THEM, don’t you? I shall assume you do.

Every time he would stop that ship, he would conduct scans and observations. He was tracing our history, learning our language and scanning the planet for any information. We… Just like all of you, assumed planning for attack or invasion. Assembling a militia took us time but we did eventually create a sizeable armed force. We of course couldn’t actually DO anything about that because what use is a halberd or broadsword against a starship with asteroid killing guns? None that’s what. So imagine our pure terror when the ship started coming a lot closer than we felt comfortable with.

One day, it started to land. This horrendously scary, heavily armed, impossibly armoured behemoth of a starship hovered in place for a moment, then began to drop as if it had sprung a leak and was sinking. A mile long, multi million ton monster suddenly drops from the sky and gently plops itself on a pasture on the outskirts of a large town. What exactly do you do about that when your only response is sword and shield? Nothing that’s what. Sweet sod-all nothing with dumplings on top.

Town response at first was to panic, run, hide and call militia. The few soldiers we did have lacked the fortitude of traditional knights and soiled themselves at the first sight of those main cannons. The sheer size alone was beyond daunting. At that point what kind of crazed madman would ever dare to even approach? If it wasn’t the fact it was so… prominently sized, the sound of its engines alone would’ve been enough to terrify all who heard it. I have never heard such a noise before. Four hundred human years have I been alive. The terrifying low grumble of those engines still makes me shudder.

I still have no clue what convinced this human that we were his port of call. He had millions of other planets to choose from… So why us? In total, at least according to the scan data he gave us, we numbered barely thirty million globally. Why us? We still do not know to this day. Let’s say we’ve been too busy to ask.

That ship landed, and stayed with no activity for about an hour or so. Fuzzy on the details, it was ages ago. But eventually, the ship’s ramp released and lowered to the ground. The few, strange few brave enough to step outside and look were mystified. No invading army, no grand conquest of arms, no death machines. Just some dude with a sign and a folding table. We were very much shocked of course to see a human. A genuinely non-Sarandi entity, to be certain, but still. After all that, it was just one person and a table?

He came down the ramp, set up his table and sign, then returned up, making several more trips to procure various items. By the time we realized he wasn’t exactly a viable threat, he had set up what can only be described as a Recruitment desk on the grass under his ship. A large table, a chair on which he sat, a large sign, pamphlets and literature in a box, and a clipboard with a pen. Most curiously however was a small orb, that we now know as a Drone hovered nearby. Once he was done, he just sat there, reading a publication of some kind.

The sign itself read: ‘Employees WANTED - Now Hiring’ in perfect Sarandi text. It was a fancy font, but anyone with a basic education could read it. It was ages before someone - me - decided to step forward and find what was going on. I had no idea I had been standing there watching him, and to this day, I can’t say I remember actually moving from that spot. I don’t even remember leaving my house, yet here I was with strangers whisper-shouting at me to run away. I was in some kind of odd trance, and by the time I noticed where I was, it was too late to panic.

He lowered his publication, a ‘newspaper’ as he called it, and glared at me. He stared at me for a few more seconds and neatly folded it up. He put it down, looked up at me and smiled.

“Yo. Need sumthin’?” He said with a strange voice. He spoke perfect Sarandi no less but the tongue clicking was slightly off, it gave him an accent.

“Uh… I-I do not know. Who-What are you?” I asked.

“Just call me Boss Roma. I own this fine vessel and the mining operation from which she was born. Gorgeous aint she? So, here to gawk at my ship or you here to actually get a job?” He replied with a stiff, but still present smile.

“Uhm… I would gladly do… that… but I have no idea what exactly is going on… Can you enlighten me please?” I asked, as politely as I could while trying desperately not to trip over my own four feet.

“I am an employer. Company owner of a large organisation. This organisation builds THESE…” He said, pointing one of his five digits at the ship above us. “And I am in serious need of a stable workforce. You work for me, in building these things, I pay you. This includes full insurance coverage, benefits, medical coverage and retirement funds. In short, My offer to you or anyone here is: Gainful Employment.” He said, smacking his lips at the last word.

“But… I know nothing of that thing up there. What would I do about it? I have no idea how to build a horse and cart let alone one of those…” I meekly replied.

“As your employer I am legally required to train you for the job you intend to take. No matter what that job is. Want to work at the smelters? I’ll train you how. Want to be a navigations officer? Cargo officer? Construction supervisor? I’m legally required to give you training on how to do the job. I supply both the knowledge - and the wisdom to use it. You’ll have to pass Orientation first but, it’s only a month’s worth of sitting around watching TV so it aint bad.” He said with a strange smirk.

I said nothing and took one of the papers. Orientation pamphlets as it turned out. It effectively explained that so long as I worked for his company I would be cared for. I would have a place to lay my head, free food while I work, and full medical coverage for my immediate family. Of course, understanding this as a medieval smiths apprentice, wasn’t exactly something that I could do alone. I spent the next two hours asking questions. He was strangely patient, and answered every query I had.

At the end of the talk I had no idea what to do. I read the pamphlet and checked a few things. Eventually I settled on something I found very interesting. I was after all a blacksmith’s apprentice, so naturally my eyes wandered to the job title of ‘Smeltery Technician’.

“What is this… ‘Smeltery Technician’ job exactly? What does one do in this job?” I asked, pointing to the picture of a large pile of metal ingots.

“’Smeltery Technician’” is exactly what it says. You’ll be in charge of a large array of heavy smelter…

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