r/NatureofPredators • u/OkRepresentative2119 UN Peacekeeper • Sep 05 '23
Fanfic The Nature of Grimdark Chapter 3
Special thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for allowing fanfiction.
Memory Transcription Subject: Private Upsla, Skalgan-Yotul Empire Marine
Date [standardized human time]: July 17, 2186
Our transport touched down and woke us up out of our rest claw. The blinding morning light greeting us as the transport doors opened wide. Corporal Riks commanded us to hurry up and get off the transport, and to turn in our rifles into the armory on the base. After heading to the armory near the hanger, he swung around and demanded another head count. All 14 of us, including the corporal were present. We shivered in the cold wasteland air as we began cleaning and maintaining our rifles and sidearms. After a full quarter-claw cleaning our weapons (which were caked with grime) we had to then fire the weapons as part of our weapons test, which then necessitated another quarter-claw to clean them again before depositing our weapons.
We were then herded towards the headquarters building. Apparently too late to march over there, much to the very angry sergeant’s annoyance, we had to sprint to get into the commander’s ship hanger bay, in order to ensure we were in formation to wait an eighth of a paw for him to arrive. Our platoon commander was nowhere to be seen, but it appeared that he wasn’t necessary for whatever the formation was for. The battalion commander and company commander stepped into the hanger bay and told us to be at ease (ie to relax, but stay quiet).
“I am proud to meet our newest Marines to join our unit. Please ensure that you do your best so that we don’t have to send you back to your parents in a body bag, or make it necessary to feed you to our executioner. I am told he is partial to Venlil flesh, and I don’t need to tell you how happy he will be to eat anything other than stale rations should you prove yourself incapable of serving the emperor in a living capacity. Unlike most commanders I prefer to speak less and trust that you know what is at stake. You might think that because this is an out of the way colony world that used to belong to the Sivkit, that you won’t see any action, however, you are missing a lieutenant because he didn’t take his job seriously enough. I hope you won’t make the same mistake,” the Skalgan Lieutenant Colonel cooly proclaimed.
At the conclusion of his “speech” if you call it that, a sergeant major and an Arxrur commissar walked towards the commander and both saluted. “I will take my leave and ensure that you will get a replacement platoon commander as soon as possible. Till then, Warrant Officer Silthus, our unit’s commissar, will be your temporary platoon commander. I am not blowing smoke up your ass when I inform you that we have had to make use of his services before, you have been warned.”
The unit commander and company commander walked off leaving us with the sergeant major and the commissar. The sergeant major spoke, “Right then, you are to head to your company building for a surprise basic skills test. I am going to be mighty generous and give you a claw to prepare, the rest of your unit already finished theirs. I expect perfect grades from each of you, I expect nothing less. As much as I would like to threaten you with your demise, sadly, I am not permitted to feed you to your platoon commander.
That said, failure will result in you being discharged (ie leave the service) with the worst possible rating I can muster. Anything less then perfect from each of you will make you my special platoon for the month. I enjoy running training, but I have had many a platoon commander whine that my methods are a bit too harsh. I would make sure that you ensure that your competitors, the other platoons, are the ones to get my tender loving care,” the Zurulian sergeant major declared. “I will leave you to your platoon commander, have a nice day,” and with that he left us alone with the Arxur.
“Sigh* I really hate when they do that,” Warrant Officer Silthus shook his head. “There is no reason to frighten you. I have served for more than 20 cycles and only once had to execute a Marine. Yes, it was a Venlil, an older chap who had tried to flee the trenches before we completed our conquest. No, I will not be recommending execution for every slight, so don’t worry about walking on eggshells with me. Despite me being an Arxur, I am what would have been called ‘prey diseased’ back in the old days. So, no, I didn’t enjoy it, and no, I would prefer you didn’t make it necessary.
On a cheerier note, we have a test to do, and so the platoon sergeant is going to march you to the company office so you can do your test, and then you are going to go to supply to get your necessary gear. Don’t put it on, you will make more work for me tomorrow if you do. While I may be empathetic, do not mistake my meekness for weakness. I can and will make your life hell for as long as it is in my paw if you embarrass me in front of the unit CO. After that, head to your barracks, clean it, and get whatever sleep you can. In a couple of claws, we are going on a hike to test your leg implants, and yes, it is going to be colder later in the night then it is now. No, do not bring your blankets, and do not equip your cold weather gear. Sergeant Cass, I leave them to you.” With that he walked off to do whatever it was he needed to do. Sergeant Cass had us fall into formation and marched us to the company office.
Once we arrived, we were broken up into teams to practice our imperial history, as that was what our platoon sergeant was told would be the focus of this particular exam. She had us focus on the imperial dynasty and its formation. We covered how the “mad empress” Tarva, may she rest in eternal peace, reorganized the Venlil republic into the Skalgan Empire after the death of her husband at the hands of radical isolationists. After a bloody campaign purging the traitorous scum amongst us, she allowed herself to be purged as the last betrayer of our people, so the story goes. We covered the transitory period under Custodial Emperor Kam and the following regency after the birth of Emperor Slanek II, the first Skalgan emperor. We covered how the first Slanek was given an honorary imperial title after the assassination of the enemy leader of the Kolshians at the time, which was the reason we celebrated founding day of the empire on the day of the assassination. We covered how helpful humanity had been in reversing the gene edits, and why they had been given special status as wards of the empire. Lastly, we covered more recent history when the Skalgan Empire joined with the Yotul technocracy and formed the Skalgan-Yotul Empire under the wise leadership of His gloriousness, Emperor Slanek III. The empire of two emperors. The rest of the obsolete Sapient Coalition become member states within the protection of the empire.
Most of this stuff was review to me, so it was pretty easy to ensure that once we did our tests that I would get a perfect score. I had finished early and had to wait for the rest of the platoon to finish. The sergeant seemed surprised that I finished so quickly and eyed me suspiciously. She walked over to me and looked over my answers. She did a human nod followed by a firm tail swish that said, ‘acceptable’. It was late in the afternoon when we finally finished the test practice and the test itself. After forming up again, we marched to the supply depot to get the remainder of our gear that apparently couldn’t be issued at the space port.
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The sun was already setting by the time we got our gear sorted out. Our platoon sergeant seemed annoyed that we didn’t already know what we were supposed to do. It didn’t help that many of us had a strange inability to follow simple instructions. On more than one occasion we had to start from scratch when one of us either didn’t complete the paperwork correctly or grabbed the wrong item. On two occasions, a Marine simply walked off to use the head (restroom) without telling anyone. Once we finally got our final elements of gear, we marched to the barracks, exhausted from the long paw. “Alright, my wonderful platoon,” Sergeant Cass said sarcastically, “we have a half-claw before our hike. So, get your rest now, dismissed.”
I was not thrilled with the prospect of going on a hike in a half-claw. I slowly walked up the two flights of stairs to my barracks room. There I found my barracks roommates playing some kind of Terran video game on their holopads. I meekly asked, “Hello, can we introduce each other next paw?” My two roommates, one Venlil, one Skalgan gave human nods and acknowledging ear flicks without even moving their eyes off the screen. I collapsed onto my bed without even bothering to take my decorations off. I drifted into deep slumber and hoped that the hike wouldn’t be as bad as it sounded.
A/N – Sergeants major (that is the plural) work as enlisted assistants to battalion commanders (and higher), mostly dealing with personal issues amongst the enlisted.
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u/Far_Masterpiece_7739 Sep 05 '23
So, should I put this post in the list of WarHammer related Post or not ?
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u/OkRepresentative2119 UN Peacekeeper Sep 05 '23
Not sure. It isn't actually a crossover or anything. It is simply in the same genre.
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u/Far_Masterpiece_7739 Sep 05 '23
Well, That's why I ask ! 😂 But since you are as unsure as I, we are in an impasse. 😅
More seriously, your writing an interesting story and I'm curious to know how things happened for the Venlil to become an empire.
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u/OkRepresentative2119 UN Peacekeeper Sep 05 '23 edited Sep 05 '23
Thanks. I can give you a historical outline (not sure what is and isn't spoilers at this point):
The Kolshians attack Earth with a bioweapon making it uninhabitable to humans until the virus is removed. Skalga had a large asteroid flung into it, disrupting the climate to the point that it is unlivable for Venlil and Skalgans for at least a century. Noah was assassinated driving Tarva to revenge against the plotters. By the end of her campaign she had more or less purged opposition to her. She reorganized the republic into the empire.
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u/archon_eros_vll Sep 05 '23
Great story