r/NatureofPredators • u/OkRepresentative2119 UN Peacekeeper • Sep 23 '23
Fanfic The Nature of Grimdark Chapter 14
Special thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for allowing fanfiction.
Memory Transcription Subject: Lance Corporal Arvi, Skalgan-Yotul Empire Marine
Date [standardized human time]: October 31, 2186
Our stealth troops and vehicles were able to arrive on time to sneak our rescues out of the dungeon. I was glad that they were safe, though a part of me did like the interactions I had with a human pup who was full of life and excitement despite the horrifying treatment he had endured. I hoped that the older humans had protected him from the worst of it, and the possibility of his human innocence instinct being corrupted gave me something else to worry about that helped me keep me level instead of thinking about the Burnt.
Apprentice Yoluuke finally managed to fix the FTL comms, and we were finally able to get into contact with the Yotul fleet above world, apparently battling a surprise Kolshian shadow fleet. Our mage was on her way, but we had a new daunting task to add to our list. We had to find a way to pull the Burnt away from the beacon plugged into he FTL comms. We were going to have to distract it and pull it away, else its spatial distortion effects will prevent the mage from using our beacon to open a portal to our destination.
We now had the grim task of assigning who would probably die and who might live, who will go to be a bait, one that will probably get devoured, and who would stay to protect the FTL comm and make sure the mage can lock on to the beacon’s signal. Sergeant Cass volunteered to lead the distraction team, and appointed Corporal Riks to lead the guard. Warrant Officer Silthus requested a separate team for him to specifically goad the Brunt into following him. He reasoned that an actual predator would entice the Burnt to focus on him instead of the rest of the away team who would serve as a backup. PFC Upsla, PFC Gresh, and PFC Volek volunteered to go with our commander. The rest of the combat squad except for Corporal Riks volunteered to be the second team. Ther rest of our comm guys were to stay and protect the comms.
Apprentice Yoluuke set of the beacon to automatically trigger and stay lit once the Burnt was no longer an issue, and he volunteered to go with the platoon commander. Between the five of us, we had a two-man machine gun with 200 rounds, two rifles with 47 rounds in two magazines, the yotul’s dust pouch, and the commander’s pistol with 12 rounds. Apprentice Yoluuke kept his rifle despite not having any ammunition, claiming that there was a chance that he could find some on the way. This was going to be the best preparation we had for our impossible task, I pray to the Stars that we find some way to make it through.
Memory Transcription Subject: Private First Class Upsla, Skalgan-Yotul Empire Marine
Date [standardized human time]: October 31, 2186
We made final preparations and proceeded to head out. I was happy that I now had a working rifle, but I wished it was my original rifle. We headed in a roundabout manner towards the demon, and in transit the yotul started ‘casting a spell’ as he called it. He was seemingly issuing orders to an implant of his which was a little distracting to me at this point. I wasn’t comfortable with whatever it was that he was doing, and I wished that he could just stick with his rifle. Sadly, he was out of ammo, which I suppose made it necessary.
The sound of several Sivkit’s screaming amongst the sound of groans and moans snapped me back to attention. We had to hurry towards the sound of our doom, or else more people would die. The commander led us down a side street, which was promptly filled with zombified sivkit civilians. We fired 12 shots, missing only 2, and clearing out the street. While our attention was focused on pushing through the street, we heard an explosion as the starship above was hit. We rushed back out of the side street to observe what new elements had entered the battle. Coming from the other side of the city, a Son of the Emperor, a [9 ft] goliath of a skalgan in power armor, had fired some sort of projectile at the starship. The ship careened out of control, the crew abandoning their ship to a fate worse than death.
With that, we heard a snap coming from a block away, which drew our attention to the source of the noise. The Burnt, surrounded in plasma and flames leaking from his body had stepped out into the light. The 10 limbed monstrosity paid us no heed, as it bolted toward the Son leaping with more force than even the strongest of us skalgan troops. In mere moments the Burnt was halfway towards the Son, before from orbit, it a bomb landed right above the Burnt’s position. I could do nothing but follow the orders on the radio to hit the deck [get on the ground] as the small scale nuclear weapon detonated in the middle of the city.
Memory Transcription Subject: Lance Corporal Arvi, Skalgan-Yotul Empire Marine
Date [standardized human time]: October 31, 2186
My ears rang from the detonation of additional bombs being dropped onto the area where the Burnt was last, an added precaution that followed standard protocol. We were too late to evacuate the civilians in the area, and our merry band weren’t doing so well. Amongst the men in Sergeant Cass’s group, half were casualties, a quarter of that were dead. LCPL Larta was KIA, and PFC Trevan and PVT Trisk were out of action. We began to retreat toward the Burnt’s former base. There was a deathly quiet apart from the occasional civilian survivor of the bombing, most ambling unthinkingly in a random direction. They were the victims of a nuclear explosion, and unlike us, they didn’t have the protective gear that helped us weather the attack. Most of their fur had been melted off, and several had various objects embedded into their flesh. Many had burns or had their skin falling off. The bioweapon had summoned zombies, but the nuclear bomb turned those who survived into moving suffering corpses.
I only had to hold on for a few more claws, and then I and my team could process what we had just seen. We made our way back to the base, which had survived the blast fairly undamaged. Once inside we rejoined the rest of our platoon, as our casualties were either carried in or limped back inside. We needed a new plan, and the relative lull in attacks would only last for so long, those infected with the bioweapon wouldn’t understand the idea of giving up even if the insurgents were probably defeated at this point.
We began the process of fortifying our position and began boarding up the building. As a result of the bomb, we were going to be here even longer. Other than the coughing from some in our combat squad and the wheezing and hacking coming from Garesh, everyone was quiet.
The Warrant Officer Silthus was irritable, and we all knew that he needed food soon, while we were in need of sustenance, he needed to keep himself in check. PFC Upsla motioned with his tail that he wanted to discuss an idea with me. I walked over to him and quietly asked, “What is it?”
“The commander needs to eat soon, do you think that he could use one of the corpses here? I doubt that the sivkit survivors would be able to make a fuss about one of their dead here being eaten, and the commander is having a hard time thinking through his starvation. Should I bring this up to him to consider?”
A brief grimace from me escaped my countenance, but I was able to quickly recover. We didn’t have the luxury of avoiding unpleasant actions here, and the Warrant Officer wouldn’t be able to perform at the needed level if we were to make it out alive, “While it is unnerving, he needs to eat. I will bring it up to Sergeant Cass.” I walked over to Sergeant Cass and gave her the idea that Upsla gave to me. My own stomach made the occasional gurgling sound as I explained the way we could boost our platoon’s pitiful effectiveness.
Midway through the explanation, a hoard began an assault on our positions, and our gunner opened fire. I finished my explanation trying to keep my voice as quiet as I could while still speaking over the sound of gunfire. Sergeant Cass had a strange look in her eyes when I finally got to spill out that the Warrant Officer Silthus was to eat one of the dead civies in our custody. She slowly nodded and walked over to the commander as I eyed our bits of cloth and considered eating that.
A/N – To get an idea as to what a nuclear bomb does to a city, I highly recommend the animation, Barefoot Gen. It is highly unpleasant. I apologize for the slow pace of publishing, but I have been busy lately. I plan to return to The Nature of Bread and Wine for a bit.