The "humans are space orcs" trope portrays humans as vastly different and superior to aliens,
Don't you mean "humans as vastly different and inferior to aliens"? I always got the feeling that HASO was more about humans doing things in a completely unexpected and rather grotesque way from the point of view of aliens, but it somehow works out. Humans are Space Orcs, because aliens see humans as we humans see orcs: Brutish and not too bright, but yet they can accomplish anything.
The whole "humans are so much better than all aliens" thing is usually HFY territory. As a side note, a lot of HFY works out there are more like Humans are Mary Sues. Which can be quite tiring. I find that to not be the case with HASO.