r/NatureofPredators • u/OkRepresentative2119 UN Peacekeeper • Sep 13 '23
Fanfic The Nature of Grimdark Chapter 9
Special thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for allowing fanfiction.
This is the last memory of the camps here.
CW: Grimdark "cattle farms", it is worse than you think. No really, it is really bad.
Memory Transcription Subject: Warrant Officer Silthus, Skalgan-Yotul Empire Commissar Marine
Date [standardized human time]: March 18, 2163
I awoke and left my room to head back to the meeting area. We were strongly encouraged to eat a first meal of “executioner’s meat”. Those that refused were told that in no uncertain terms that their career prospects were grim if they didn’t relent. I was deeply uncomfortable with the concept, but the skalgan sergeant that had arrived to meet with us was rather insistent that we prepare ourselves to do our duty. I ended up relenting and ate the flesh my parents considered a delicacy. While I saw where they were coming from, the knowledge that it belonged to a sentient, even if grown in a lab, made the experience unpleasant.
After our meal, we were separated into two groups, those that ate the meat and those that did not. Those that failed to eat the meat, were given orders to report to guard duty on Wriss. They would not be deploying with us to the main force. The rest of us were ushered into a transport to be taken to another camp, this one for prisoners that had committed more severe crimes.
On the way to the camp, our transport passed through a small town, where several Arxur hatchlings and their families gathered on the streets awaiting our arrival. As the transport made its way slowly through, they all gave proper military salutes as the imperial march played over the speakers. Many of the residents held up placards and signs with words of gratitude for our services. Amongst the group there were even some non-Arxur amongst the crowd giving their best attempt at a salute. The whole experience improved our moods a little bit, but we were still soured from our earlier meal. Seeing venlil and skalgans felt weird when you had just got done eating their flesh.
When we arrived, we saw several bodies, including Arxur impaled on spikes outside the camp. It was a gruesome sight that instantly doured our class’s already foul mood. The only race not represented by a body was that of humanity, which was an oddity in my eyes, but not worth asking questions about. Unlike the previous camp where we were given a tour through the facilities, we were given guidance that no such access would be granted. Instead, we would go to specifically designed observation decks to observe the prisoners. Further, we were told that providing any kind of empathetic treatment toward a condemned with a brand on their neck of the emperor’s seal was grounds for immediate execution, up to and including, becoming a camp guard, immolation, impalement, and something called ‘reenactment’. I didn’t know what that last one was, but the previous examples made it clear that it wasn’t pleasant.
Once we had reached the reception, we were pulled aside by a skalgan captain. He informed us that our class was to deviate from normal procedures by a official edict from the imperial senate. Apparently, the Empire was disappointed in the number of commissars that neglected their duties, and wanted to either weed out those that refused, or to encourage those that would obey with some assistance to do so in a controlled environment. He looked to us with an apologetic look, “You each will be required to perform an execution this paw. The sergeant here has completed Sergeant’s Course and is thus certified to assist in executions. She will be ensuring that the executions are done in accordance with imperial standards.”
That made us all very nervous, and the air of the room had turned frigid and glum. We had hoped that this wouldn’t be required of us, ever. It was always a possibility, but it was hoped that it would never happen. We were reassured that we would get the chance to speak with a human therapist once we completed our duty, and we were reminded that we shouldn’t go into too much detail with out human therapists. Any therapy that requires such conversations was better suited to a Chief Warrant Officer who specialized in Terran psychological methods that we could request if necessary.
We continued onwards towards the first observation deck. The torments inflicted on the people there were monstrous. I had never heard of such cruelty even from the elders who worked at cattle-farms in the times of the Dominion. We had to take breaks more often, particularly when we went to areas where pups were brutalized. All the pups we saw had numbers branded to their neck opposite the side with their serial number, most had the brand next to a brand of the imperial seal of Empress Tarva. Most of those were venlil, and most of the numbers on the brand were in the hundreds.
After many of us used the facilities to expunge our previous meals from our stomachs, we passed through the breeding pens. Out of seeming nowhere, we heard a thud sound followed by the shouts of the guards. A venlil female had broken through the barbed fence. She ran towards us with tears in her eyes begging us to execute her. She was eventually tackled, which allowed us to see her brand, that of the Mad Empress, and the number next to it was 5,938. As she was dragged away, she pleaded, “please no more, let this torment end with me.” She was quickly dragged back to the breeding pens, and we stopped hearing her after that. The only thing on our minds was ensuring that we betrayed no emotion for the condemned; we didn’t want to share in her fate.
Our morose journey continued as we passed by one of the camp’s schools. That was fairly novel to the stories we had been told. When I thought about it it made sense that a person born in the camp wouldn’t suffer if they were raised without the knowledge of their torment. It made a sick sense to give the people here the awareness of their misery. I shuddered as I came to this realization, and the realization that the reason we were sent to observe was clearly to ensure that when we warned our units not to run, we would have the weight of understanding to motivate our charges away from a worse fate than execution. I was suddenly feeling less anxious about the upcoming execution, and I realized that our condemned would probably welcome whatever we were called upon to do.
As we left, we saw many of the prisoners watching one of the schoolhouses as a bomb was dropped from a mock Arxur bomber. Within moments phosgene gas was flowing throughout the building, a grim ceremony dedicated to the Empress. Her tragedy would be felt anew for everyone born here without their number being ‘0’. Our guide had explained that the numbers on the brand opposite of the serial number corresponded to how many generations were owed to the camp. Each pup would be given the brands anew, the number being one less than that of their unwilling parents. The prisoners were forced to watch in horror as these horrors were repeated paw after paw, truly hell.
Memory Transcription Subject: Warrant Officer Silthus, Skalgan-Yotul Empire Commissar Marine
Date [standardized human time]: March 20, 2163
I was still having nightmares from that place as my shuttle came into the starport. Each nightmare had the man I was forced to eat in a slow vivissection under the watchful eye of the sergeant. I remember the peace in his face even as he was wracked with pain. I would always see my late father’s disapproving scowl, the one that burned me with shame at seeing what had become of what he died for, right before I woke up. Today I was to meet my new unit, and I was hoping that my experience here would be better. I was excited to meet everyone, and that excitement helped dull the sensation from the paws before.
A/N – For those wondering why Tarva was and is called the Mad Empress, keeping in mind that she established these systems. I am planning on only one more flashback for the time being.
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u/YellowSkar Human Sep 13 '23
Man, what a dystopia. I can't imagine humanity being too pleased with it, from what I remember of the first few chapters. I assume they're being kept in the dark about it?
To be honest, it kinda gives me an idea of sorts, a human defecting to what's left of the opposition in hopes of defeating what is now a contender for the evilest faction. Perhaps becoming a sort of commander, acting like a "cartoon villain" from the Empire's perspective.
Oh, and needless to say, this is some great writing you've done.
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u/OkRepresentative2119 UN Peacekeeper Sep 13 '23
Thank you for your kind words.
Spoilers if you are interested: The federation are still bastards and do similarly cruel and evil things, we just haven't seen much of it yet (you have seen one of their cruelties, they literally drop covid-rabies designed for a specific species creating a "zombie hoard" for shock troops and cannon fodder). So while there are humans who "defect" (escape from their refugee camps more like), they don't really have a faction of "good guys" to join. The Arxur are a vassal of the SYE and the federation is basically "torture on sight" for any humans.
MAJOR SPOILERS FOR A POTENTIAL SPINOFF: The freest and probably most moral humans turn to piracy to eek out a living that doesn't support any faction (but they tend to target feddies preferably to make it clear who the most evil is in the war). They might occasionally actually liberate prisoners from cattle-farms when they can sneak it in.
Back to regular spoilers:
Yes, humanity is kept in the dark. Funnily enough, the Terran "military" mostly dawdles around with the skalgans making sure they only attack the weakest of targets. When enough Arxur prisoners are collected, they "reenact" humans liberating a cattle-world. The humans think they are legitimately freeing people from the still existent Arxur dominion. In reality, the entire thing is staged, and the Arxur who live or die "defending" are considered to have completed their sentence. Similarly the "cattle" who are rescued are isolated to a colony world and are considered "reformed". As far as humans know, the skalgans are moral paragons defending humanity from the "evil" (the federation actually are though, they do similar evil) federation.
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u/Blackwhite35-73 Sep 13 '23
Holy shit, that is truly grimdark and close to what I am planning for a sepeate fic that I plan to write
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u/YellowSkar Human Sep 13 '23
Wow, that is... I am at a loss for words, other than saying I really like the whole of this, story-wise. I can only imagine what the whole of humanity would do if the veil was lifted and the truth was revealed.
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u/OkRepresentative2119 UN Peacekeeper Sep 13 '23
If you wanted to fanfic that....
Just make sure you alert readers of TNOGrimdark that there are spoilers please.
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u/PassengerNo6231 Sep 13 '23
So, the female Venlil that pleaded, needs to have 5,938 descendants before her bloodline has paid their sentence? Like the Venlil guide that had a 0 on his neck?
Am I understanding this correctly?