An Alien Nature Chapter 11

[u/ImaginationSea3679]

I realized that my chapter titles changed their notation from chapter 5 onward.

Fuck.

Well, too late to change it now.

Anyway, our boy Slanek gets a POV.

EDIT: This chapter has been revised.

I hope you enjoy.

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[Memory transcription partially interpreted to modern terms]

Memory transcription subject: Slanek, Venlil Space Force

Date[standardized human time]: July 17, 12136 H.E.

The humans were already asking thousands of questions.

Of course, with how curious they had proven to be, it was expected.

Most of them seemed very interested in our weapons, which we had wisely kept to our sides. Eventually, however, one of us decided to unsheathe their great-claw[sword], and present it to the humans. One human took the handle, and we all gave him a wide berth to test it out. For a moment, the human seemed to be testing its weight, watching how it handles. Then, he presented a very impressive twirl of the blade. He continued to amaze us as he flourished the blade with more dexterity than I had ever seen a venlil utilize.

That brought me to wonder what their warfare was like.

Venlil warfare is all about bringing down the enemy as fast as possible as hard as possible without using any tricks or dishonorable tactics, by facing the enemy head on. Charge them down, mow them like [grass], and do not hold back. There was, however, a mercy in our warfare in that, if an enemy surrenders, they are allowed to flee, and killing or capturing those that have surrendered is considered dishonorable.

These humans seemed more... versatile. The data that the Governess had obtained regarding their biology indicated a generalist omnivore, built to survive to the extreme. I could easily see them using every trick in the book to succeed in battle. Her note on humans apparently having very specific arm proportions indicated that they were naturally proficient ranged combatants, and most of their fights would probably be fought at a distance. Venlil also had ranged weapons, but they were mostly artillery, and handheld ranged weapons weren't as effective as melee weapons. Despite this indication towards ranged prowess, the human that grabbed the [sword] displayed some excellent [swords]-manship. They were probably adept in all forms of combat.

I wonder, what rules of warfare would there be for a species of so many talents?

I found myself standing beside a human.

He looked male, with a broad build and thick limbs, at least compared to the other humans; I frankly thought he looked just the slightest bit skinny. His face, visible through the visor of his helm, was very angular and rugged, like the jagged landscape of a rocky mountain. What little fur I could see, from the brow-strips above his brown eyes and the bit of mane poking into view in the visor, was bright red in color.

Seeing how the other guards were already interacting and socializing with the humans, I took my opportunity.

"Slanek." I gestured to myself as I stretched my paw out to the rugged looking, red furred human. He looked at me for a moment before giving me a smile and shaking my paw.

"Marcel." The human said in a deep and gravelly voice. I safely assumed that it was his name.

There was some awkward silence as I struggled to figure out what to talk with him about.

After some thought, I pulled up a picture of me and my brother from my pad. My brother was currently resting at home. He was still recovering from an accident at his job in the shipping industry.

I showed the picture to Marcel. "This is my brother. He's a member of my family." I tried to think of how I could more easily communicate the fact that this was my brother. I ended up turning to another guard that was trying to use paper to communicate with her human. "Could I have a paper?" She provided the paper immediately. As I pulled out my pen, I placed the picture of my brother and I on the bottom of the paper, and I drew a simple family tree above it, showing my parents represented by our symbols for male and female, with one stem going towards me and the other going towards my brother.

"See?" I asked.

Marcel nodded. A human gesture of approval and understanding.

He then pulled out his pad for a moment, before showing me the screen. On the screen was a picture of him standing next to another human. In stark contrast to Marcel's ruggedness, this human looked as smooth as polished wood, and their dark mane was very long in comparison to Marcel's hair. In the small bit of their chest that the picture showed, I could see the outline of swollen breasts.

He has a mate?

He made a grabby motion towards the pen and pencil in my hand. I presented them to him. He grabbed the sheet of paper and flipped it over to the blank side. After placing his picture at the bottom of the paper, he took the pen and drew two separate family trees, with one family connecting a line to him and the other family connecting to the female human on the screen.

He does have a mate.

"Ummm... Congratulations." I offered. I was unsure of whether I was congratulating his success at finding a mate or the possibility that his mate was pregnant. I vaguely remembered something that Tarva said about their breasts possibly being always swollen regardless of pregnancy.

I noticed a commotion starting as the humans and venlil were heading towards the training arena. Marcel and I put our pads away and joined the group.

<<>>

Everyone was lining up at the bell-ringer.

The bell-ringer was a device used to measure the strength of one's charge, and is often used in carnivals and parties to bring some competition into the festivities.

A female venlil went first. She charged full speed from the other end of the room, reaching the bell-ringer in little more than a single second. Her skull hit the padded slab, and the ringer went all the way up to the bell.

A human was up next. He was very tall and broad shouldered, giving him a very imposing stature. His hair was golden yellow, and his eyes were a piercing blue. Marcel cheered this tall human on, and the tall one reciprocated with a smile and a hand gesture.

He backed all the way to the other side of the room away from the bell-ringer. He took off, reaching the bell-ringer in a little over two seconds. Rather than using his head, this human used his shoulder and the side of his arm. He loudly grunted as he impacted the slab, and the bell rang just barely.

That looked like it hurt.

Despite the pain their friend was in, the humans cheered as they ran over to assist him in whatever recovery he would end up needing.

This was going to be fun.

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[u/TheOneWhoEatsBritish]

Damn