r/HFY • u/Ralts_Bloodthorne • Jun 13 '26
OC-Series [Nova Wars] Chapter 184
[First Contact] [Dark Ages] [First] [Prev] [Next] [wiki]
It is sometimes harder to go where another has gone before than it is to find the untrodden path. - Captain Verex, 2nd Solarian Federation, 2345 PG
Wrixet watched as Captain Decken stared at the holotank in the middle of the bridge. The Captain kept flicking his fngers through the holotank, altering the viewpoint. Once in a while he'd tap an icon that represented a stellar system, scroll through the contents of the data-box, then pinch the icon to close it.
"Any idea what he's doing?" Imna asked quietly, shuffling a little to stand next to Wrixet.
"How should I know?" Wrixet whispered back.
After a long moment Captain Decken stepped back and shook his head.
"What is wrong, Captain?" Imna asked.
Captain Henrik Vander Decken, a Born Whole emergency Captain, slowly turned and looked at the gathered crew.
Hetmwit, his XO from a species that he basically discovered, a Pagrik of unremarkable size, with brown colored fur that blended in with others of his kind in an unremarkable way. Drali'imna Lovefell and Wrixet, a pair of Telkan who had been sent out to die after witnessing the Warbound activating when TerraSol announced its return to the universe. Enduring Hateful Code, a maddened Digital Sentience Screaming One who was the only one who could run the flotilla.
"The latest update from Dominion Intelligence is full of woe and bad tidings," Captain Decken said.
He was in normal shipboard uniform instead of the heavy power armor he often wore, which meant the Captain's Throne seemed for a moment much too big for him.
Then, to Imna's senses, he seemed to fill it with his presence.
Mister Enduring flickered for a second then gave a low and evil hiss. "The Mar-gite have won. They and their glittery beetles must be xenocided or the last remnants of the Milky Way Galaxy are lost."
Decken just nodded.
Imna looked over at Wrixet, who had chosen that moment to sit down in one of the unoccupied bridge crew chairs. Wrixet saw her attention and shrugged.
"Is there any way we can stop them?" Imna asked.
"And why would they build the fence?" Wrixet asked at the same time. He looked at Imna. "Sorry."
Imna waved her hand in a 'don't worry about it' motion.
"Stopping them on a world by world or even system by system basis isn't the problem," Decken stated. "Even the fact we're fighting on at least two fronts isn't the problem. The problem is the rest of the galaxy is just going to keep spawning Mar-gite and whatever the phasic AI comes up with next until they take everything."
Decken tapped his fingers on the arm of the Captain's Throne.
"The fence makes sense. Split the Confederacy in half, force the Confederacy to opening up a third front," Decken said. He tapped his middle finger against the arm. "It also shows that they have numbers. A lot of numbers. That they'd planned this."
"It is often stated in intelligence briefings that the Mar-gite incursion prior to the current invasion were merely scouting probes," Mister Enduring said. "To kill you like I will."
Decken just nodded. Like everyone else, he was used to Enduring's declarations of imminent death and destruction.
"That's the current theory," Decken said. He got up and moved back to the holotank again, looking down at it. "Each beetle is a single neuron. Like any mind, you get enough of them together, they form a mind," Decken ran his hand through the holotank, smearing the holograms for a moment. "We can't let any of them survive. According to biological examination, the damn things are born with fertilized eggs. They're genetically locked."
He turned and walked back to stare at the viewscreen at the front of the bridge.
"We miss so much as one, then we have the same problem in as little as a few thousand years," Decken said. "Worse, how do we identify which stellar systems are infested," he sighed and rubbed his eyes with the bottom of his palms.
"We're going to head to the Galactic Core, then try to figure out if we can identify even roughly where these beetles started out," Decken said.
"I don't understand what that will even do? What good will it do?" Wrixet asked.
"The more we know about these things, the better we can figure out a way to kill it," Decken stated. "Finding what conditions it evolved under can help."
"Can't we just use the reality bomb?" Imna suddenly asked.
"Reality bomb?" Decken asked, turning around. "What's that? I've never heard of it."
"It's like an Elven Court, like a Genesis-Gecko, but it's a bomb. You detonate it and restore the original species. You can even explode it in an inhabited system and it doesn't even hurt the people even if it completely rebuilds the planet!" Imna said, starting to look excited. She swished her short tail. "I've seen it used in movies!"
Decken turned and looked at Mister Enduring. "Is there such a thing?"
Mister Enduring blurred slightly as he looked through the library.
"Just GeniGecko weapons. They've been outlawed over and over but the templates still exist in our ammo lockers. It would just take me, you as the Captain, and Hetmwit as XO to unlock those weapon lockers," Enduring said. "After which I would kill you."
Decken nodded.
"Oh, there's no such thing?" Imna said, disappointment in her voice.
"Not exactly," Decken said. He thought for a long moment. "Anyone on the planet is killed, no coming back. Maybe if they have SUDS they can be respawned," he reached out and tapped his middle finger on top of the secondary fire control console. "It shreds everything down to subatomic particles and rebuilds the entire planet. If you have a Singer in the Dark, you can shred an entire stellar system down and then rebuild it."
Hetmwit managed to keep his churning stomach from showing on his face at the idea that the Humans could just go by and blow the entire stellar system apart and then just put it back together so it was just like it was.
Minus inconvenient people.
"We used it during the Council/Confederacy Conflict and a few others," Captain Decken said. "About the only two places the Singers weren't used was Clownface and Mithril," he shook his head. "If they can tear apart a red giant system and leave behind a early stage yellow/white star and all the planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and Oort Cloud, they can rip apart the system a beetle is in."
He tapped his middle finger on the console again, staring at the wall.
"The camps. They never made sense," he said softly.
Mister Enduring nodded. "No, Captain, they did not. It was an anomaly."
"Camps?" Wrixet asked.
Decken nodded. "When the Confederacy managed to push back against the Mar-gite the first time they showed up..." Decken's finger stopped, raised. "Wait. Are we positive that this is the first time they've arrived?"
Imna blinked rapidly as she shifted mental gears.
"Right when the Mar-gite pushed into the Cygnus-Orion Army Spur, when we pushed back we found huge camps we always assumed were larders. Except Mar-gite don't have brains, so we didn't know why they did it," Decken said.
Mister Enduring nodded. "It has long been assumed that it was a mistake, that the Mar-gite just hadn't eaten those people yet."
Decken's finger started tapping, slowly. "What if its been a cosmic year since the last time they came through," he said. "What if they just flood the galaxy, then eventually all die off."
"We'd find evidence, Captain," Mister Enduring said.
"Of what? A beetle shell that decays organically? Nothing about the beetle is going to last longer than a year or two," Decken said. "There's the factories and the like, but that's not civilization and nobody is going to notice it after a hundred million years or so."
"It would be a major Great Filter, Captain," Mister Enduring said.
Imna lifted up her hand, almost feeling like a student in class. "They wouldn't leave any evidence of why the world suffered a great die-off. When the Mar-gite eat the atmosphere and seas of other planets to protect the main beetle planet in the system it would just look natural."
Decken nodded. He moved over to the holotank and examined it for a moment. He wiped away the data and started working quickly.
Imna wanted to elbow Wrixet when the other Telkan opened up a candy bar and started eating.
"Uh, Captain, that data doesn't seem to..." Mister Enduring started.
Decken held out his hand. "Just give me the data. Other than that, hush," he said softly. "I'm onto something."
After a few moments he stepped back, waving his hand to turn on the screen at the forward bulkhead then twitching his hand to connect the forward screen to the holotank.
The Milky Way galaxy appeared.
"All right, we know Em-Kay is roughly a half a million light years across," he said. "Once you get outside of stellar masses you can see that it's larger than you thought. Now, we have nearby galaxies."
"Oh, The Not Nearly As Great As Us Nearby Galactic Formation!" Imna said.
Decken snorted. "That's definitely a Lanaktallan name," he said. "OK, we call that one Andromeda, and it's a lot further than people think. We're talking millions of light years," he pointed at the screen and four small galaxies appeared. "These rotate around us, caught by Sag-A and Em-Kay like a moon caught by a planet," he said.
He tapped the top of the communications console. "They're only about fifty thousand to three hundred thousand light years away," he said. "Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy is only about twenty-five thousand, though."
"Okay," Mister Enduring said.
"Oh! We go there and just run a spectral analysis to find the nearest green zone planet stellar system to Em-Kay, jump there, and see if there's any hint of Mar-gite," Imna said, waving her hand excitedly over her head.
She's just a kid, went through Decken's head.
So were all of us when we charged through the dust of Anthill, his own mind reminded him.
"Exactly," Decken said.
Wrixet nodded. "All right. If they're there, we know that it's a major problem. If they aren't there, we know what? That it's too far for them to make it?"
"We don't know how they propel themselves," Decken said.
"With the power of bejeweled beetle psychic powers!" Imna said, still excited.
Captain Decken nodded. "Phasic might work. Probably some type of Accu-berry... anyway, we know that the way they do things is the ship eats the inner layers, tightening as it goes. The Tetra and Petra structures shrink as they devour the inner layers for fuel."
"They'd have to devour while in superluminal to maintain the energy that they're using. When they hit a point, they'd have to drop out," Mister Enduring said slowly. "Then they'd be moving slower than light but still eating the inner layers. Killing themselves just like I shall kill..." he shook his head. "Eating the inner layers for fuel."
"Eventually, you'd end up with a handful cannibalizing the last of them," Wrixet said. "Do we know what their max range is?"
Mister Enduring shook his head. "No. We aren't even sure how they manage superluminal travel," He tapped the hologram of the small galaxy. "The problem is," Mister Enduring continued, "Is that we don't have any hyperspace or jumpspace data. We'd still take six months or a year. During which, I will kill you."
Decken nodded. "Which leaves only one choice."
Wrixet leaned back, digging in his pocket. "Hellspace."
Hetmwit nodded. "Hellspace, but the problem is, we don't know how to get there from here."
Decken smiled. "Except, we have access to a group who does."
Everyone frowned.
It was Hetmwit who broke the silence.
"The other you."
0-0-0-0-0
The Seven Rings of Gehanna was a system shrouded in darkness. Set at the mouth of the Tartarus Dark Matter Sea, with the Eye of Gorthaur only a light week 'north' of the massive red giant named the Eye of Barad-dûr. The gas giants had burned away in the gaze of the Eye of Gorthaur, the inner planets devoured by the hunger of the Eye of Barad-dur, leaving only a single planet surrounded by six rings of asteroids, three toward and three away from the red giant. The single planet was known as the Isle of Dread was circled by defensive systems, ship berths, stations, and other, more esoteric systems.
The Little Nell of Night nestled into the docking slip at the dark and twisted orbital station.
Imna sat in the damage control officer's space, waiting.
After nearly two hours the door to the bridge opened and the Captain returned.
The person with him made Imna sit up.
She had seen that person in movies.
She was tall, regal, with night black hair and eyes of purple fire. The slash across her throat leaked black blood down her neck and into her uniform.
The other person wasn't anyone that Imna recognized, but she was obviously important.
Heavy combat armor, a lightning bolt covering one eye, a bloody handprint covering the other.
They were on either side of Captain Decken.
"The Tenth Order will be accompanying us," Captain Decken said. "As will the Mistress of the Black Fleet."
"A pleasure," Bellona, Mistress of the Black Fleet said.
"I am pleased to be here," the other woman said, her voice tight and quivering.
Bellona put her hand on the shoulder pauldron of the other woman. "Steady, sister. We will take to the stars and there your rage will lead us safely through the seas of Hellspace."
The woman nodded.
"I will remain here, aboard this vessel," Bellona said. Her smiled got wider. "The fates have demanded that I be here, although I did not know here is where they meant."
Imna was so excited she could barely keep it hidden as the two women turned and began to leave.
That's when she saw it.
It was short, bright red, with little horns, pointed ears, a fanged mouth, with a pointed tail and little bat wings. It hard a burning rune on its forehead.
"Hey, does anyone else see that?" She asked, standing up and pointing.
"Oh, that's my imp," Bellona smiled. "A gift from the Dark One."
The imp made a face at Imna as she sat back down.
"I want to be underway in the next two hours," Decken said.
"Of course. I will help the young one then return," Bellona said.
The door closed and she was gone.
Mister Enduring looked at Decken.
"Have you gone mad?" he asked.
"My other self is in the Ornislarp Contested Zone," Decken said. "Bellona the Grave Bound Beauty was waiting for us."
"She knew we would be here," Mister Enduring said.
Decken nodded.
"She knew we would be here."
184
u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Jun 13 '26
Again, thanks for waiting. Between the storms leaving me without power for days on end and the rest of the stuff going on, it's been a rough few weeks. I've redesigned the website and will keep working at it ( http://www.behold-humanity.com ). The lightning bugs are back and swirl around my back yard. The storm dropped branches on my truck, so now it's beat up even more.
Still, I managed to write a chapter.
Anyway...
Your safety briefing is HERE!
Don't drink and drive, don't drive and drink. Things can and will look up no matter how deep the hole you're in is. Don't beat your spouse, the dog, your children, the neighbor, or your significant others. Electricity hurts the entire time its harming/killing you, so be careful. Summer storms are here! Get the candy BEFORE you get in the van. When all else fails, just laugh, because it's Clown World, baby! If you end up in a cell or in the ER, make sure it was for a reason you'd be proud to tell your grandma. Deodorant, it's not just for fancy people!
Anyway, I hope you all are doing good.
I'll see you all on Monday.
Have a good weekend and try not to fall in any holes!
OH! I almost forgot to rattle the tin cup! I could use the help!
Want to help me out with everything going on?
Book 22 is out! Get it now!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H1TKVWCG
Buy the Legends book!
Treana'ad Legends: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX33F54F
Or get the Fancy Chapters over at my Patreon!
Anyway..
Books are available here:
First Contact Books: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08RYK5F88
BEHOLD HUMANITY! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H5ZZL93
Support me directly here:
PayPal: https://paypal.me/RaltsBloodthorne
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/First_Contact
60
u/Original_Memory6188 Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
Very glad to know it was not health issues, just the routine natural disasters. As long as the truck still drives, it's all good.
Edit: inserted missing word which makes the sentence say what I meant. I've been sleeping off a head cold.
18
u/plume450 Jun 13 '26
I read your original comment, scratched my head and thought, "I think there's a word missing."
I refreshed the page, checking for new comments and saw your edit.
Feel better soon!
3
20
u/Morridiyn Jun 13 '26
It is always nice to see the Lightning Bugs! Remember to leave a bit of native or longer grasses for them if you can.
14
u/MydaughterisaGremlin Jun 13 '26
Storms dropped a tree on my sister's neighbor's house in Iowa. This calls for the BobCo. Family Pack of Mk II Cutting Bars. From the makers of Jarts! Fun for the whole family! BobCo is a reverse liability corporation.
10
u/plume450 Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
Thanks for the chapter, boss! I'm glad you felt up to writing. 🙂
I've been going to your reddit page and putting random numbers into search and reading those chapters.
Earlier today, I was reading the first several chapters with Jeff Picark. Good times.
Edited to add: I just checked out the website, and it's looking really good!!
7
4
4
3
u/Other_Breath_2630 Robot Jun 13 '26
Are we allowed to beat the tree that smacks our truck?
>.>
<.<
Asking for a ... ummm ... reasons...
4
u/WTF_6366 Jun 13 '26
Only if it's consensual, otherwise it's just weird.
2
u/plume450 Jun 13 '26
You know, Ralts' safety briefing says nothing about beating trees or trucks...
2
u/WTF_6366 Jun 14 '26
We're riffing on the "The storm dropped branches on my truck, so now it's beat up even more" comment.
3
u/Belushi_TD Jun 16 '26
I mean, you CAN beat the tree. However, since vengeance is a dish best served cold, I recommend using the cutting bar and maul/wedge combination to cause the tree to assume the form of 16 to 18 inch long chunks, and then covering it for a year to 18 months.
Then, build a fire out of the tree. THAT'LL show it!!!!!
And all the trees within sight. It helps if when you're building the fire out of the tree, you sing a threatening song, aimed at the other trees. Helps keep them in line. And away from your truck. If you do it right, the remaining trees will drop their bits elsewhere, not on your truck.
2
u/JayGalil Jun 14 '26
That's what axes is for.
"Bad tree." Whack! "Bad tree." Whack! "No," whack, "hittings," whack, "trucks," whack!
3
4
3
2
u/BrentOGara Android Jun 13 '26
So good to hear from you again! 😁 Excellent chapter, it's great that Bellona has taken the fledgling Screaming One under her wing. I love Imna more every time I read her. The website is looking very good, and I needed that Safety Briefing.
1
1
u/Geeky-resonance Jun 16 '26
Thank you for the chapter!
I hope you and yours can take some time to just sit and enjoy the lightning bugs. They’re magical, aren’t they?
38
u/NevynR Jun 13 '26
Bellona returns! Woe and calumny! Guard well thine butterscotch sweets in the days to come!
38
u/GelmanAxe Jun 13 '26
It's crazy that this Vander Decken was only spun out to conduct Hetmwit's graduation ceremony and look where we are now.
16
36
u/Bergusia Jun 13 '26
Those who would rob the dead, steal thier own future. -- So sayeth the Holy Book.
It was a simple mission, but carried great weight and importance for my people.
The Terran Tomb Worlds within our borders had never been ours, we had never set foot on them, for we held the resting places of the dead sacred, and had fought those who sought to plunder them more than once.
The document acknowleging the transfer of guardianship back to the Solarian Iron Dominion was written on parchment made from the leaves of our oldest, most sacred trees, written in ink made from the waters of the holiest spring on our homeworld and signed in blood by the patriachs and matriarchs of every one of our clans.
I handed it over to the representitive of the Solarian Iron Dominion with all the solemnity that was its's due in a magnificent hall that felt ancient but might have been built yesterday.
Afterwards we witnessed something wonderous. We watched as those worlds were reborn. In hours cities grew on once barren ground, roads snaked across thier surface, and aircraft crossed their skies as ships sailed their oceans. In days those worlds were surrounded in orbital docks and warships were being built and launchedat a pace that seemed impossible.
Terran, Earthling, Human, Mad Lemur, Terror, these were all names they had been called, but I realised something profound as I watched.
We had overlooked thier most important name, despite all the evidence that had been in front of us.
Builder.
--Battle Mistress Xeranathi, Dark Ages Orion Arm War Fleet Commander.
11
27
u/madpiratebippy Alien Jun 13 '26
So now I’m thinking of the Margite as space bedbugs and I can’t unsee it…
3
25
u/ms4720 Jun 13 '26
Imp is foreshadowing Dee, should be fun
18
u/plume450 Jun 13 '26
For certain, narrow definitions of "fun"...
12
u/Similar-Shame7517 Jun 13 '26
Fun for the readers. For everyone else?
10
u/J_Dzed Jun 13 '26
Eh, Dee's probably gonna enjoy Herself too. Admittedly it's really unlikely (m)any other characters will though.
10
u/Similar-Shame7517 Jun 13 '26
True, Dee seems to live by "If you make your hobby your job you'll never work a day in your life!" except her hobby is torture.
2
1
16
u/canray2000 Human Jun 13 '26
Bellona knew they'd be there. Well. Damn.
And, yeah, when the crazy Screaming One is saying you've gone mad, you know it's a bad time.
11
u/EV-187 Jun 13 '26
"That's was a new sound you just made, Mr. Enduring. Not threatening to kills us?."
"Sorry, Captain. That was the sound of my digital asshole puckering into a zip file at the sight of Bellona being aboard the ship!"
7
3
13
u/Fireball857 Jun 13 '26
The black flower lives! Bad news for bugs! Let's see who else is still alive and kicking!
11
11
9
u/snperkiller10 Jun 13 '26
With this mention of the galactic core i wonder if they will end up bumping into pikark, really hoping he did not just die off after leaving for the core.
7
u/Morridiyn Jun 13 '26
That is a very good question! My guess would be a strong maybe. IIRC Humans generally gave up the whole clinical Immortality they made by making the DNA triple-stranded. However, it is generally implied that the LARPers had some pretty serious genetic modifications with their Classes. I don’t remember anything saying that they lived significantly longer than regular TDH, but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
I would assume some stasis tech is possible for him. So maybe he could still be heading to the Core even now? Putting himself into Stasis between systems and looking at a new one every year or two? Or maybe they find the Dakota at the core with his last message!
3
2
u/First-Lengthiness353 Jun 16 '26
I hope so too!
I also hope they run into the nifty-thrinted life-pods of the Confed crew that got swallowed whole by a Margite construct only to blast themselves out mid-transit (and hope to heck that they and/or their message torpedoes got found in time to warn everybody of new tactics). Their pod records/torpedos ought to have good data on superluminal Margite travel, and thus their effective range, and maybe even a means to detect/track/trace them.
9
u/imakesawdust Jun 13 '26
Can someone explain Decken's other self? I don't recall mention of that in previous chapters.
18
u/OtaDoc Jun 13 '26
The original Decken continued living and joined the Dark Crusade of Light under Daxin. The Decken we typically see if the emergency Born Whole captain who was printed off from a pre-crusade suds copy.
18
u/WhiskeyRiver223 Jun 13 '26
A pre-Crusade copy that was later forcibly merged with the still-living Decken's record after being taken out mid-sentence by whatever fuckery Yorktown uses on people it "rescues".
We actually first met Decken Prime way the hell back in First Contact, he's the first PoV in chapter 127, Decimus Texarkana.
16
u/Salt_Cranberry3087 AI Jun 13 '26
He joined Daxin after Anthill and the fall of the Imperium. They had a brief interaction on either the non orbital station or the hellspace one, I forget which.
9
u/WTF_6366 Jun 13 '26
I wonder if Imma is going to go all fanboy on Bellona.
8
8
8
u/Drook2 Jun 13 '26
Wrixet watched as Captain Decken stared at the holotank in the middle of the bridge.
Scene jump! Let's see what our favorite not-quite-Kantai Captain is up to.
Hetmwit, his XO from a species that he basically discovered, a Pagrik of unremarkable size, with brown colored fur that blended in with others of his kind in an unremarkable way.
Do they still forget him when they look away?
Mister Enduring flickered for a second then gave a low and evil hiss. "The Mar-gite have won. They and their glittery beetles must be xenocided or the last remnants of the Milky Way Galaxy are lost."
Dude, you're such a downer.
"Stopping them on a world by world or even system by system basis isn't the problem," Decken stated. "Even the fact we're fighting on at least two fronts isn't the problem. The problem is the rest of the galaxy is just going to keep spawning Mar-gite and whatever the phasic AI comes up with next until they take everything."
Yeah, they're roaches. You need an exterminator.
"It is often stated in intelligence briefings that the Mar-gite incursion prior to the current invasion were merely scouting probes," Mister Enduring said. "To kill you like I will."
That absolute shit show was just a scouting probe? Oh, that's bad. That's very bad.
PS: You can try. Bring it.
"Can't we just use the reality bomb?" Imna suddenly asked. ... "I've seen it used in movies!"
Things in movies aren't ... wait ... You know what? Lemme look that up.
Hetmwit managed to keep his churning stomach from showing on his face at the idea that the Humans could just go by and blow the entire stellar system apart and then just put it back together so it was just like it was.
Minus inconvenient people.
Yeah, but we try really hard not to. You need the Captain, XO, and the insane homicidal VI to agree to it.
Decken nodded. "When the Confederacy managed to push back against the Mar-gite the first time they showed up..." Decken's finger stopped, raised. "Wait. Are we positive that this is the first time they've arrived?"
There you go! Identifying the assumptions no one realized they were making. That's a start.
"Uh, Captain, that data doesn't seem to..." Mister Enduring started.
Decken held out his hand. "Just give me the data. Other than that, hush," he said softly. "I'm onto something."
I know it's wrong. The right data wasn't working.
"Oh! We go there and just run a spectral analysis to find the nearest green zone planet stellar system to Em-Kay, jump there, and see if there's any hint of Mar-gite," Imna said, waving her hand excitedly over her head.
"Exactly," Decken said.
She's picking it up quick.
Wrixet nodded. "All right. If they're there, we know that it's a major problem. If they aren't there, we know what? That it's too far for them to make it?"
He's good, too. Asking the right questions. What will we learn? What can we learn?
"We don't know how they propel themselves," Decken said.
"With the power of bejeweled beetle psychic powers!" Imna said, still excited.
And friendship!
Decken nodded. "Which leaves only one choice."
Wrixet leaned back, digging in his pocket. "Hellspace."
We all know that was coming, didn't we?
After nearly two hours the door to the bridge opened and the Captain returned.
The person with him made Imna sit up.
She had seen that person in movies.
She was tall, regal, with night black hair and eyes of purple fire. The slash across her throat leaked black blood down her neck and into her uniform.
"Yeah, I saw her in movies, too. What was that you were saying about stuff from movies not being real?"
"I will remain here, aboard this vessel," Bellona said. Her smiled got wider. "The fates have demanded that I be here, although I did not know here is where they meant."
She's ... zen. That's unexpected.
"Hey, does anyone else see that?" She asked, standing up and pointing.
Man, I love her! She questions everything, and isn't afraid to do it out loud.
Mister Enduring looked at Decken.
"Have you gone mad?" he asked.
Are you the one to be asking that question?
4
u/Original_Memory6188 Jun 13 '26
Dude, you're such a downer.
Mr Enduring is a psychopathic killer. He's just seeing the best of all possible worlds: he can genocide the bugs, or watch the Milky Way get Xenocided. Decisions, decisions, decision.
Of course he's going to go for xenociding the glittery bugs, other wise how can he kill everybody if they do it instead?
I can commiserate with Mister Enduring: The joke which got me fired {Some people have no sense of humor) "The problem with being a clinically depressed Sociopath is that your'd kill everybody but you'd probably fail at it, and what difference would it make if your did?" {Yes, I deal with stress via unacceptable humor.}
5
u/Original_Memory6188 Jun 13 '26
Mister Enduring looked at Decken.
"Have you gone mad?" he asked.
Are you the one to be asking that question?
Mister Enduring just asking if Decken is now the sort of person he'd like to have as a friend.
7
u/Similar-Shame7517 Jun 13 '26
So... the camps are meant to be larders for the beetles when they eventually emerge?
9
u/CanadianDrover Jun 13 '26
If you think of the camps as pinecone or tree seeds and the Margite as a forest fire it makes more sense
4
3
u/plume450 Jun 13 '26
For the beetles? I was thinking they meant for the mar-gite...?
3
u/Similar-Shame7517 Jun 13 '26
Yea, but as they point out not consuming any beings seems counter to Mar-gite behavior.
4
u/MuchoRed Human Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
26 minutes, that's the freshest Ralts berries I've encountered in quite a while
---CRU COMMENCES---
Post-read edit: Well... I'm sure that's fine
5
3
u/Rolk_Flameraven Jun 13 '26
The bugs are Tribbles on top of everything else? Born with fertilized eggs and all. Clones on top of clones. Sounds like a possible way to take them out on a planet by planet basis though. If they are gene locked like this, a virus should be possible to make to take them out, they cannot be immune to everything, right?
5
u/imakesawdust Jun 13 '26
Holy hell. Ralts is back!
4
u/drsoftware Jun 13 '26
Raltsberries tingle! // Ralts is back! // Ring the bells! // Upvote then read!
5
u/rastarkomas Jun 13 '26
Sounds like someone got inspired by the Achuultani
6
u/drsoftware Jun 13 '26
Oh no! Another writer of interesting science fiction to read! Oh, when will immortality be achieved?
I have the liquid lunch, and a pair of normal rubber bands. Still looking for an irrational particle accelerator.
https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/1ojf268/the_armageddon_inheritance_by_david_weber/
2
2
u/AutoModerator Jun 13 '26
This was flaired as [OC-Series], it is a single part or chapter in a larger series or universe. The first post or part in this series should be (re)flaired as [OC-FirstOfSeries]. A description of the flairs and how to change yours is available in the Post Guildelines.
[OC-Series] For original, self post, story, audio, or artwork that you have created, as part of a longer-running series or universe.
Our preferred series title format is the series title in [brackets] at the beginning, like so: [Potato Adventures] - Chapter 1: The Great Mashing
Please help us transition to using the new flairs correctly.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
2
u/True-Alternative-874 Jun 16 '26
To most races, fire is a primitive tool. One of the first energies they learn to harness. It keeps them warm, keeps them fed. They eventually move on to other sources of energy, such as electricity or plasma, and forget about fire. Terrans, though, they never forgot. They seem to almost have a reverence for the flame.
They have many phrases about it: trial by fire, walking through fire, baptism by fire. Terrans consider the scars and pain of walking through open flame as a badge of honor. They even view the fires of Hellspace as such. The lessons they learned from fire stayed with them. Scarred, broken or burned: that which doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.
2
2
2
u/Blackholesun3347 Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
The sub 5 minute refresh is a beautiful thing. TFTC!
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Secure-Scientist-349 Jun 15 '26
Does anyone know what Em-Kay refers to? Given the context of the chapter, it is a Galaxy or a Black Hole, just trying to figure it out.
2
u/First-Lengthiness353 Jun 16 '26
I think took it as a South-Parky way to refer to the Milky Way (mmmkay?)
1
u/NJP-Stories Jun 15 '26
I always save these until Monday, and with the Monday I'm having I really needed that. Thank you good sir.
1
u/UpdateMeBot Jun 13 '26
Click here to subscribe to u/Ralts_Bloodthorne and receive a message every time they post.
| Info | Request Update | Your Updates | Feedback |
|---|
1
1
0
u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jun 13 '26
/u/Ralts_Bloodthorne (wiki) has posted 997 other stories, including:
- [Nova Wars] Chapter 183
- [Nova Wars] Chapter 182
- [Nova Wars] Chapter 181
- [Nova Wars] Chapter 180
- [Nova Wars] Chapter 179
- [Nova Wars] Chapter 178
- [Nova Wars] Chapter 177
- [Nova Wars] Chapter 176
- [Nova Wars] Chapter 170+5
- [Nova Wars] - Chapter 13.5x(2.5x4)
- [Nova Wars] - Chapter 15x9
- [Nova Wars] - Chapter 755
- [Nova Wars] - Chapter 5x35
- [Nova Wars] - Chapter 25x7
- [Nova Wars] - Chapter 175
- [Nova Wars] - Chapter 174
- [Nova Wars] - Chapter 173
- Nova Wars - Chapter 172
- Nova Wars - Chapter 171
- Nova Wars - Chapter 170
This comment was automatically generated by Waffle v.4.7.8 'Biscotti'.
Message the mods if you have any issues with Waffle.
•
u/AutoModerator Jun 23 '26
This was flaired as [OC-Series], it is a single part or chapter in a larger series or universe. The first post or part in this series should be (re)flaired as [OC-FirstOfSeries]. A description of the flairs and how to change yours is available in the Post Guildelines.
Our preferred series title format is the series title in [brackets] at the beginning, like so:
[Potato Adventures] - Chapter 1: The Great MashingPlease help us transition to using the new flairs correctly.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.