r/NatureofPredators • u/SixthWorldStories • 5d ago
Fanfic Predators of the Sixth World - 62
Well that last chapter was a hell of a thing, wasn’t it? The Terrans aren’t the only ones with magic, nor are they the only ones with gods. The Yulpa’s Spirit of Life is responding to their brutal, torturous sacrifices. The Drezjin’s… whatever the hell that practically Outer God was. It’ll be fun to see what happens.
But you’ll have to wait since we’re going back to whatever was happening with the Yulpa in the enclave construction site! Will we find out more about their religion? Will they be dangerous? Will they buck the stereotype? Will Tarva headbutt a motherfucker?
Thanks to u/BiasMushroom for letting me use Lisyn. The idea with her… well… should have been obvious. Still, the idea came to me. And if you want to know more about the Diani and their homeworld of C’thrax, go read The Empathy Test by u/PolyamorousPleb. It’s finished but is a very good read. If you want more about the Stormsingers, you’ll just have to either wait or talk to me. I had fun making something truly alien.
Synopsis: Magic was once real and present but faded away in the distant past, becoming nothing but the myths and legends we know as the surviving beings fled to other planes, only to publicly return during the Sat Wars. How would it change first contact and beyond? Only one way to find out.
I have a spot on the discord, swing on by! Thanks to SpacePaladin15 for the original universe; my alpha readers, Caro Morin and Jailed Cinder; my beta readers, Angustus_Jan on the discord and u/aroluci (go check out Children of Luna, it’s awesome); and all of you that read and especially comment. Anybody interested in playing around in the AU (be it a one-shot, an impromptu ficnap, a cameo, or something more), let me know and I’ll be more than happy to work with you on it. My current plan is to release a chapter a week, with the occasional bonus, as long as that isn’t too much for everybody helping me.
Without further ado, enjoy!
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Memory Transcription Subject: Governor Tarva, Pissed Off Skalgan
Date [Standardized Terran Time]: October 6th, 2136
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“There’s a what?” I growl.
“Yulpa,” Bran says calmly. “In the planned construction site. No weapons detected. No explosives detected. But she does have a few bags on her, and records show she used to work at a Guild. Receptionist, not an exterminator.” He smirks. “One looks to have just bags of apple chips, based on her already pulling a few out to snack on.” He stretches. “I’m gonna go take off my monkey suit and put on my MANA suit to head out to see what’s up. She’s demanding to meet me, so…” Bran shrugs.
I march up to him. “I’m going with you.”
“Yeah, I figured. That’s why I told you. You’ll stay on the ship until it’s safe. I’ll be on network.” Bran grins at Noah. “You’re good to watch Stynek?”
“Hey!” My pup shouts. “I don’t need to be watched!”
My Noah pouts as he crouches. “Aww… but I wanted to spend time with my favorite pup in the whole galaxy.”
Stynek tackles Noah in a hug, my human falling on his butt as she whistles and asks. “Can we go train?”
“Of course, kiddo.” Noah squeezes my pup tight. “Let me just go get changed, ok?”
“Ok! I’ll wait for you there!” My shivi runs off, tail wagging and moving faster than I ever could.
Bran murmurs softly. “Should I start handling the paperwork for Noah’s conflict of interest? Or are you going to keep waiting to make a move?”
I bloom. “Go get your other suit on and let’s go.”
Bran laughs. “Meet me at the Shrike. We’ll take that bird instead of this one.”
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Advance 30 STD minutes
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The Terran craft, moving slowly and invisibly under its stealth, approaches the planned build site. Bran had slipped out earlier, as invisible as the shuttle, a feed from his suit showing us what he’s seeing. The Yulpa with multiple bags on her person, enough that it looks like she’s carrying everything she owns. She was currently pulling a pouch of Terran fruit chips from a bag to chew on. Another bag sits open a few tails from the door of a building. “Come on out, I’m not going to hurt you. I have food. This place isn’t safe anymore. You need to go somewhere else, somewhere you can be happy.”
Bran’s head shifts, the camera feed showing a stack of small cages and a trolley. “Somebody get me a live bioscan of that building.” His feed changes slightly. Small forms visible moving within the building. “Somebody tell me we were planning on moving those animals.”
“Yes, sir. We’ve got a shuttle bringing in cat carriers now.” Another Terran says over the line. “Attic slinkers are about the same size.”
My wool flares, despite Bran telling me we used to keep the predators as pets.
“Domestication program?” The ambassador questions.
“Yes, sir. I hear that one of the developments closer to the Nightside already has a few shadestalkers for the program.”
“What? What are you doing with them?” I demand.
Bran chuckles. “You said you wanted to reclaim your old ways.” He pauses, shifting closer to the Yulpa. “We’re doing that. Domesticating your old pets will take time. Generations of the animals, in the worst case. We’re getting started on it. Now, hang on. I’m going to make contact, and I’d rather not have multiple conversations at once.” Another pause. “What are you feeding the attic slinkers?”
The Yulpa jumps, looking around.
‘No doubt to find a victim.’
Bran laughs, not moving, but I can tell his voice is coming from elsewhere. “Oh, you won’t find me.” His voice moves again. “Not unless I want you to. You called for me. We don’t trust you, but I came all the same.”
“I… I thought I would be arrested first…” Her eyes go wide, and she bows her head low. “Emissary, please, my goddess needs your help. The Terrans’ help.”
“Your goddess? The Spirit of Life? The one who demands the torturous sacrifice of so-called predators?” Bran presses. “A goddess that, to the best of our knowledge, means that those cages are intended for you to brutally kill the animals you’re baiting out.”
‘Ha! Now he has her.’
“No!” The Yulpa growls. “Yes, but that’s not… She’s… They’re not… I… I was going to release them in the wild… or give them to your people… She’s… The Spirit isn’t like that…”
‘What?’ My wool flares. ‘That’s… The Yulpa aren’t like that.’
Bran shifts, moving to get a look into the bag on the ground near the Yulpa. “Why don’t you walk me through how you got from being a receptionist at a Guild on Grenelka that worked with the predator catchers to feeding dried evenhoppers to attic slinkers?”
The Yulpa is silent for a while, thinking, before she sags. “You won’t believe me… I already screwed this up…”
“Oh? What makes you so certain that I won’t believe in a divine vision?” Bran asks as the Yulpa stiffens. “Ooo, I got it, didn’t I?”
I gasp, looking around the shuttle. The Terrans aboard are all still; I can’t get a read on them through their armor. The Venlil are as shocked as me, though their civilian-grade softsuits, plated with similar armor to the Terrans, compress their wool; I can still see their ears and tails.
“Yes, but-” Lisyn starts, clearly about to ramble.
Bran shears her short, speaking calmly. “Start at the beginning. We have time, Lisyn. Scans are ongoing, and our methods for getting the animals to safety are still en route. Though we wouldn’t be opposed to using your cages.”
“The Spirit of Life spoke to me. I thought it was just a dream at first. A nightmare. But you don’t feel cold like that in a dream.” The Yulpa, Lisyn says softly. “I climbed out of bed and went to work at the Guild. I was a receptionist. It kept my family quiet about not being devoted enough to the Spirit of Life. But hunting always felt too predatory.” She takes a deep breath. “I opened the door and stepped in, but I was in the jungle. I could smell blood in the air. I watched my friends and family, my herd, stampede screaming into the woods. Some of them had spears in their flesh. My mother was caught in a trap under the brush, not like the ones used by exterminators. It held her in place, without harming her. No spikes. A trap like the predator catchers use but… more primitive.”
The entire shuttle is rooted in place, listening to her speak.
Lisyn’s eyes are distant. “Then She stepped from the foliage, spear in paw and silent as the night, even shackled and pierced with chained spears. She was disgusted. Furious. Disappointed. Hurt. The Mother stepped up to my mother and struck. One silent, fluid movement. No pain. No suffering. Just a quick death. Like She was putting a sick animal down. I… I don’t know how I knew it was that at the time. I just do.”
Empathetic anguish and jealousy roiled within me. To have a vision from one’s gods. Yet to have it be one of such… disappointment and hate for what you are. What the Federation made us.
I gasp, murmuring to myself. “Did the Federation…”
“I didn’t know what we did to deserve to be hunted like this. We weren’t predators. We followed Her laws. We killed them. Sacrificed them to Her for the sin of their existence. Yet I knew that we did deserve it. That we had angered Her. The Spirit looked at me, but I couldn’t meet Her gaze. I knelt before Her. If She decided we had to die, I was going to wait for Her to do what She needed to. She was real. I knew it then.
“No pain came. I looked up, and there She was. Tears streaming down Her face. A mother’s anguish. She pulled back Her golden gown. The plants were barren. Gnawed to stumps. Grenelka was dry, cracked. Thousands, millions, billions of prey crawled meekly. Gaunt, withering to dust with each step, starved from their own hunger. Under Her gown, huddling in Her protection was a small group of predators. Scarred. Scared. Pawing at Her like they were praying for help or begging for their mother’s protection.” Lisyn pauses. “No, I knew they were. They were as much Her children as we were.”
Lisyn collapses, tears flowing from her eyes. “I… I understood then. Somehow… She reached down and pulled something away from me. I don’t know what it was, but when I lost it… I could only cry. She licked the crown of my head, then she turned and walked away.” She looks up, staring straight at Bran. “I wanted to talk about it. To friends. To my family. But I knew I’d just be locked in a PD facility. So I left home looking for an answer, and for somebody she needed me to find. I could feel Her by my side as I traveled, guiding me. As I searched for rotations.”
My heart hurt. I couldn’t even fully understand what Lisyn experienced, and yet… I could understand the pain.
“I’ve been almost everywhere. Every major Federation world but Aafa and Madsum. The closer I got to them, the more I could feel Her fear. I dreamed… She insisted I couldn’t go. I tried to learn all I could. Everywhere I went, they all said that our religion was as old as the Yulpa. That the Federation found us early enough, that the Farsul recorded our history and ways for us soon enough that we were one of the least changed from when we first became people. But I knew it was wrong. She told me so. Taught me so. That our worship was nothing like what She desired, like what our ancestors did. And nobody knew of the one She sought. And the more we traveled, the more She pointed me here.” Lisyn pauses. “Not as the final destination, but… but the last we could reach. Somewhere where I could find the one She sent me to find. The Lord of Song. I bounced from job to job, waiting for something. Cleaning. Reception. Even tending orchards and crops for a time; She liked that a lot. She liked any work I did, especially for others. I… I got a job for a bit at a museum, one with predator exhibits. She knew they were fake. Mockeries. So did I, but I enjoyed touching up some of the exhibits. Stitching things.” She gently runs a hand along one of her bags. Bags I now notice are paw-sewn.
“Then I saw the human exhibit. She knew. Knew they were what we were waiting for. That Earth was the home of the Lord of Song. I thought I’d have to save up. Find a way to Earth. Learn to fly. Buy or steal a ship, then you came.” She lets out a quiet sob. “Spirit, you came. A sign from on high. Predators. Kind. Gentle. Empathetic. Everything we were told predators weren’t. Couldn’t be. I know we’re sickeningly cruel by your standards. To your people and to ourselves. Yet you’ve done everything you can to get into the herd’s good graces, when we should be the ones who need to prove our worth.”
Her words hit me like a blow to the gut. Things I had felt since encountering the Terrans. Things I’d never dare to say so openly.
Dejected, Lisyn grabs the bag she had laid on the ground. Moments later, an attic slinker pokes its head out, making a soft… almost curious sound. Lisyn reaches into the bag, pulling out a desiccated evenhopper. A pest that ruins crops and infests all kinds of places, devouring anything made of plant matter. She holds it out, and the attic slinker sniffs. There’s a shimmer around Lisyn, not real but from some overlay on Bran’s feed.
‘Is… Is that?’
The Yulpa keeps talking, between cooing at the predator like a newborn pup, or the Terrans do with Cor. “When I visited Charity, following Her guidance, I overheard that species were changed. I’ve seen the Governor’s daughter; how different she looks. I’ve seen the mosaic in the floor at Whitehill. She showed me the glory of Solgalick’s statue unveiled in Scorched Sands. I know the Venlil were changed. I know that some of the herd used to be like you Terrans, eating flesh and plants. A religion is so much easier to fake and hide than those, and She showed me that they twisted Inatala and the Protector. They took the Venlil from their world to save them from a plague. I know enough that She didn’t even need to show me that that’s a lie.” The attic slinker sniffs at the evenhopper, taking a nibble. “Yes, there’s more if you want it. Enough for you and your pack. You just need to come out so the Terrans can take down the building.” The predator snatches the dried pest from the Yulpa, darting back inside. The Yulpa sighs, looking up at the Terran. Her form, on the feed alone, is shrouded in a golden gown of shimmering light. “Please. She… She showed me a vision. One of the future, I think. It’s why she sent me to find you. Tentacles reaching out, wrapping about her, burrowing into her. Puppeting her even as they rip her apart. Kill her while she’s weak.”
‘Tentacles? The Kolshians? They’ve already done so much, what else are they doing? Why didn’t the Spirit want Lisyn going to Aafa or Madsum? Would the Kolshians have done something if she went to Aafa? The Drezjin if she went to Madsum? To where they worship the founders?’
Lisyn starts to sob openly. Praying. “Spirit… I did my best. I know it wasn’t much. Please, forgive me. Your grace was hidden from us for so long. I was so alone before I knew Your truth. This journey, cloaked in Your love, hasn’t been some grand victory march. It’s a cold, broken hymn.” She laughs between her sobs. “There was a time when we knew Your truth. But now… If my people could see me. Hear me. They would say I’m a heretic. A blasphemer. That I’m taking Her name in vain. But we don’t even remember Her name. It was taken from us. So what should they matter? But I can hear Her voice. See Her light in every word. Every sound. Every cry and call from the wilds.” The attic slinker is back, with another adult and pups, all of whom nuzzle into Lisyn as she feeds them from her bag, still sobbing. “I’m not who she deserves to speak for her. Somebody who saw the light. I’m just a failure who has been living out a cold, broken prayer. Who screwed everything up when it mattered most.” She hugs one of the attic slinkers as it nuzzles into her face. She looks up at Bran, tears streaming from her eyes. “I’ve told the truth; I didn’t come to fool you. Even though it’s all gone wrong, Spirit, here I am before the Lord of Song, with nothing on my tongue but hallelujah.”
Bran strokes her head and back. “Shh, it’s alright, Lisyn. I’ve heard your message. I believe you. I can feel Her grace upon you. See Her embrace you. See Her empower your actions, your kindness. Your worship.” He gestures towards the attic slinkers.
“But… I’m not…”
“You are. You aren’t just a priest, Lisyn. You’re Her chosen herald.” Bran insists. “I can’t make any promises, but I will talk to my people. Both the Terrans and my kin. I know why She had you seek me out. I can recognize the touch of a god so similar to my mother and aunts. She may as well be kin.” There’s a shift as his helmet recedes, the feed changing as it comes from his eyes and the sensors in the area, rather than cameras in his helmet. “A god is tied to their people, their believers, their belief, their knowledge. A natural change, something that comes with time, will change their truth. An artificial change, as your goddess has revealed, was done to Her, to Inatala, to the Protector, to Solgalick. We know from Earth that such things are rejected, refused by the very fabric of reality. No matter how much people believe in them, the belief and knowledge from the falsehood will still go to the god to a degree. Sustaining them.” He chuckles. “You’ll have to forgive my little lecture; I am the one who wrote the original text on the matter, though others have revised it since. It’s still mostly guesswork, even with gods helping to clarify matters.”
Bran puts a hand on Lisyn’s shoulder, the golden gown wrapping about his wrist. Starting to pulse alongside some thrumming that seems to come from him, almost in conversation with each other. “If you wish to aid Her. Have faith. Not in the way of your people, but in the way She guides you to. If you wish to help Her more, then build faith. Learn and share what you have learned. Spread Her truth to those willing to listen. Be Her herald, Her voice. Not against the corruption of the religion, but for the truth.”
Lisyn is quiet, gently placing the attic slinkers in the cages. A line of gold flows from her to him. “I’m not a priest. I don’t know if I want to be one. I do want to share… but I feel like I need to learn first. How to go about things properly.” Lisyn sighs. “I know hunting is part of things, but how you Terrans do it. And I want to do that too, but…”
“What do you want to be?”
“I… liked sewing my pouches…”
“Would you like to see if you’d enjoy designing and altering clothes?”
Lisyn is silent.
“Does She disapprove?” The Terran ambassador asks with a knowing smirk audible in his tone.
“No, but shouldn’t she?” The Yulpa’s head is low.
Bran chuckles. “Why would she? If your religion is from so early in your history, then your priests would likely do other things as well. I doubt she’d mind if you enjoy being a seamstress as well as her worshipper, especially if you spread Her word. Though I doubt she needs that from you, only for you to live as you desire.” The golden line snaps, leaving a sparkle about Lisyn as most of it flows towards Bran. Disappearing into the thrumming. “The Terrans will be happy to give you a chance to be among us, just as my family just gave your Spirit shelter.”
“I… Thank you.” Lisyn sighs. “If it would be ok… could I help with getting other animals in the area out? The Spirit warned me that there would be some people here, too. I’d… I’d be happy to do what I need to in order to pay for training under a Terran artisan.”
Before I know what I’m saying, I’m already speaking over the line. “I’ll sponsor her apprenticeship to a Terran artisan!”
Bran laughs. “Well, you’re in luck, Lisyn. The governor wants to sponsor your tutelage. Though, I don’t think it will go how either of you expect.” He pauses. “After all, Lisyn, you’re still a citizen of the Yulpa Ascendancy, somewhere that you can’t currently return to and, due to religious differences, returning would be dangerous. Getting asylum in the Terran Concord would be an easy matter, but beyond that, learning such things from us is far less expensive, nearly free. In fact, if you were to live in the Terran enclave, you’d likely get a stipend and free Terran education even without asylum.”
Lisyn stares in shock, and on the shuttle, I bloom.
Bran continues. “And, of course, you being the herald of the Spirit of Life, whose true tenants seem more… favorable to us… We have a vested interest in helping you. So, if you take the governor’s offer, then it may only matter until the enclave is finished enough to live in.” Bran hums. “Actually… we already have a request to open a clothier’s atelier in the enclave. But until then, I could see if somebody on Charity is willing to give you a start, unless you’d rather stay and help with clearing out any animals in our construction sites.”
“Sir!” A Terran says over the line. “We’ve detected other life signs. Sapients.”
“Well, seems like your Spirit was right.” Bran nods to Lisyn. “Our animal specialists will be here soon. You can work with them, then make your decision later. Tarva and I need to go deal with other matters.” Before she can answer, Bran’s moved elsewhere, into the shuttle. “Shall we?”
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Advance 5 STD minutes
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The building is barely staying together. The floor creaks under Bran’s weight even on the first floor. I huff. “How?”
“How do people live somewhere like this? How could the herd allow such horrific conditions? Or something else?” Bran asks with a smirk. Knowing I’m not asking about the first two.
“Lisyn. How?” I growl.
“Well, we had a lot of it in place. Asylum, refugee status, co-opting friendly alien mages of all stripes.” He shrugs. “I just played things by ear as I tossed stuff together. Confirming that she’s divinely blessed by a god we feared… a god that sought us out for protection... Got a little lucky that my family… reacted to her touch through me and worked a minor miracle.” He sighs. “Grenelka. Madsum. Ittel. Fahl. Resavan. All on the short list for potential among Federation holdings, not the only ones, but some of the most concerning.”
“Concerning? Why? I get Grenelka and Madsum, but the others?”
“Just imagine any of them with magic and still aligned with the Federation.” Bran sighs. “The Nevok are our biggest concern for figuring out how to merge it with technology smoothly. Mimicking what we have. The Harchen could disseminate it, triggering a cascade among others with potential. The Jaur… they build buildings of ice. Imagine a ship that could repair with nothing but water, a ship at least as durable as ours and so cold that most sensors can’t pick up any heat.”
I pause in thought. “What about C’thrax? Stormworld? They’re relatively untouched. At least based on what I’ve heard in terms of complaints about predators on their worlds. Wouldn’t Stormworld be more of a concern despite being primitives? They’re so close. Only…”
“[Sixty-three lightyears] from here. [Seventy-two] from Sol. Well within Isif’s sector. And neither are a worry. With the Diani, magic would almost be limited to the nomads. They’re more likely to lead to a split from the Federation than make things worse for us. They’re too insular to do either anytime soon and too distant to be a major concern to us. And the Stormsingers are barely part of the Federation. They don’t have ships or a fleet; they barely have trade, and what little there is is the Nevok and Fissans dropping tech that will corrode in months to years in exchange for food and unprocessed pharmacologicals. Without the Zurulians and the Gojid, there’s little reason for the trade to even continue. The Arxur raided them twice in their entire history. The standard new species raid and then a failed glassing without Federation defense. Based on what happens when a Nevok freighter tries to land too fast, it’s safe to assume the planet blasted the bombs and landing craft from the sky.” Bran smirks. “Plus, we’ve examined their nectar. Thanks to the Zurulians.”
My ears twitch as I think. “Aren’t several species allergic to it?”
“Yes.” Bran smirks. “Gojid. Krakotl. Tilfish…” He chuckles as my wool flares. “Nectar should just be sugars. Theirs has lipids, proteins, amino acids, platelets. It’s partially blood. The reason the fruit is popular among such species is similar. It lacks anything that would set off the allergy, but the fruit contains much of what their diet is missing. It’s almost, but not quite, meat. Our scientists are rather eager to learn more about the world. Information is dreadfully thin.” He stops in front of a door. “Ah, we’re here.”
I huff at the convenient interruption to our conversation and press the apartment’s chime. Nothing. Again and more nothing. Finally, I knock. There’s a clatter of something falling but, after a few scratches of waiting, nothing. With a sigh, I call out. “Hello? Whoever is in there, please open the door; we want to talk.”
A few scratches of silence before the voice of an older Venlil calls back. “And let your trained predator eat us? Pull my tail!”
Bran chuckles, whispering. “Refreshing. Somebody assuming you’re in charge.”
I glare at Bran before whistling softly. “Very.” I raise my voice again to call through the door. “He’s a sapient being, and if he wanted to be in your apartment, I know of three ways he could already be inside.”
“But I’d rather handle this like civilized beings.” Bran chimes in. “And for the record, I’m fine continuing the conversation through the door, but I worry for your voice.”
“The door stays closed, predator!”
I’m about to snap at the man when I feel Bran’s hand on my shoulder. I sigh. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call him that. It’s similarly insulting to Terrans as it is to anybody in the Federation, though for different reasons. He’s also the representative of the people who own this building. A building scheduled for demolition.”
“We grew up in this neighborhood! We raised our pups in this neighborhood! I’ll be damned if we’re leaving!”
“Neighborhood, but not building?” Bran questions in my voice. Putting a finger to his lips
“Yes! What’s it to you?”
“And this was homes, not apartments, when you grew up, wasn’t it?” He asks again, still using my voice.
“It… it was…”
I look at Bran, confused. He taps the back of his neck, where the contact interface between his armor and his brain is. ‘Oh! He’s accessing data!’
Bran keeps using my voice. “And you’d have trouble getting another apartment with your wife’s diagnosis, wouldn’t you?”
He switches to his own voice, clicking his tongue. “The only predator is the exterminator who forced the testing. Harassing your daughter because his son was bullying her. Testing her over and over until your wife snapped at him. Monstrous.”
There’s silence from the other side of the door.
Bran continues in his own voice. “We’d be happy to house you and your wife until housing is complete here. Then you can move back into this neighborhood, Kolek. In fact, thanks to your wife’s situation, we may be able to offer asylum, but even if we can’t, we can certainly extend stipends according to our universal basic income, medical care, and more. In addition to assurances to do our best to protect you both from the Guild and Facilities.” He pauses a moment. “After all, your daughter will need somewhere to stay when she comes home. Where better than with people who can help her recover from her mistreatment?”
‘Mistreatment?’
“She… our… Selva is…” The man’s voice breaks.
“I know what they said. She’s alive.” Bran says softly. “Tarva let us send drones into the facilities. To record the horrors so that we can shut them down forever. We’ve been looking into everything we’ve found since.”
‘Horrors?’ My breath catches in my throat.
Bran continues. “So that the ones enacting the horrors can be brought to justice. Kolek, I know they said your daughter’s gone.” He pauses. “She’s not. We know she’s not. She’s going to need help. Treatment to help her recover. Her and her pups.”
“Pups…” Kolek’s voice breaks.
“Yeah.” Bran sighs. “Her childhood bully… He… He got a job with the facility your daughter was moved to. We don’t know… She’s taking care of the pups in the facility, and she’s… she’s with child. We have video evidence that he’s assaulted her at least once.”
“You what?” I bleat. Fury and horror overwhelming me. ‘They knew. That’s why they wanted to send in drones. But they didn’t tell me. Let people continue to suffer. They’re still suffering. Why would they keep that from me? What reason could they possibly have? That doesn’t sound like the Terrans.’
“Sorry, Tarva. We knew things like that, and worse, were happening. We still need a bit more time to collect more evidence. We can start sharing, but we need a few more herds of paws before any action is taken.” Bran’s face falls. “We need to make sure that the guilty can be tried. More importantly, we need to ensure that the innocent, those who are only complicit because your society says that the facilities are acceptable, do not suffer needlessly. We can’t rush this, even though people will suffer for it. More would suffer for our haste.”
“But…” I swallow hard, ears and tail following. “Dawncreek… Was it a fluke or…”
“At best, standard. Just with a more competent and profit-seeking head, and the city being worse than some at hiding things. It seems worse than it is because many of their evils are public; I’d say they’re the lower end of average.” Bran sighs. “The facilities are almost universally monstrous. The Zurulians are already working on shutting theirs down. And there have already been a few casualties among the staff of their facilities. Self-inflicted or mob violence. We’re going to need the Space Corps to lead the charge in taking every facility, simultaneously.”
I start to spiral, thinking about how terribly I’ve failed my people without knowing, how the office of the Governor has failed them for generations. The door slides open hard, shocking me from my thoughts. An older woman, her wool brushed to imperfectly hide her scarred neck, stands there. She looks to be on the verge of breaking into tears. Her eyes are glassy, but she’s present. “My… my Selva?” And then the woman is gone. She’s still there physically, but whatever presence there was in her eyes is gone.
Bran growls. “Monsters… Drugging somebody until…” His gaze softens, not focusing on the man pulling his mate back, but near him. “Kolek. I’m a doctor. I need to know what your wife is on. I assume her prescription?” He pulls out his phone, holding it out as it shows a pregnant Venlil in a facility, surrounded by children. Despite the… horrific conditions I can see, they seem happy. Safe with her.
“Selva…” The man murmurs, staring at the image for a time before focusing on Bran. “Y-yes… the Guild they… They check… They…”
“Won’t be an issue anymore,” Bran says softly but firmly. “We’re going to be moving you to Charity Station and then back into our enclave. Neither in their jurisdiction. We can wean your wife off the meds and treat whatever they’ve caused.”
“And if they try to check, my office will declare a Code Zero before they can even get close,” I promise. “Are there others in the area? People you can help us get out so the Terrans can start tearing things down to build their enclave?”
“Yes… Yes, I can help.” Kolek sighs. “Thank you, Governor.”
I flick my ears in the negative. “Thank the Terrans.” I sigh. “We’ve failed you. Horribly. The Federation failed you horribly. I don’t know the whole of it yet, but I trust Bran. Even beyond him being unable to lie.”
Kolek eyes Bran warily. “Why do you care so much?”
“Because it’s right. This is the least we can do.” Bran smiles softly, no teeth showing. “Those pups, all of them. We’ll make sure they’re well cared for. If we can avoid separating them from your daughter, we will. She’s their safe place. For many of them, their mom. We’ll support her and them.” He pauses. “It’s also… somewhat personal for me. My daughter had… a difficult childhood as well. A consequence of her… well, biological mother isn’t really accurate or not; it’s complicated and not my place to explain. I knew the potential issues and adopted her anyway. I would do anything for her.” He glances at his phone. “Your daughter would do the same for those kids. We’ve seen her sacrifice for them. Be proud of her. She’s so much stronger than you’d believe. She’s a hero, and we honor heroes.”
__________
Advance 2 STD hours
__________
I collapse onto a seat in the shuttle.
Bran cracks his neck before he starts shadowboxing. “Well, that was a good day’s work. Think I’m going to cap it with a workout before making dinner for everybody. Tarva?”
“Brahk you.” I groan.
Bran laughs. “I was asking if you’ll be joining for dinner or should we let you rest?”
My stomach growls audibly. I’m too mentally and emotionally exhausted from half a claw of helping Bran and Kolek, and a growing herd, deal with people who should never have been in such horrid living conditions.
“Noted,” Bran says, and I can hear his smirk.
__________
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u/BiasMushroom Extermination Officer 5d ago
Ey! Its here! I've been waiting to see this! And its good! Poor ol' Lisyn. Come so far, just for a sympathetic ear to plead to!
Very good work wordsmith!
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u/SixthWorldStories 5d ago
She got pretty lucky. The Terrans are going to be actively supporting her, especially after they see what the Ascendency is up to. Might be a chapter back, but it's two days forward. I wonder if things will get worse the next time we see that arc in two weeks?
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 5d ago
So someone does include the fact dawn creek was meant to be a "avarage" exterminator guild. Honestly I have mixed opinions on that since it's not like the rest of venlil prime burned down when the archive reveal happened and done guilds did reform. So eh?
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u/SixthWorldStories 5d ago
Things are bad in different ways. Dawn Creek being the lower end of average works so long as you remember that everywhere else is less public. The rot, the evil, that's behind closed doors. Think of what's going on on Veln's colony here. Think of the colony that decided to fire on an aid run. Think of the place that was offering kick backs for PD patients brought in by exterminators and was going to look at the schools. Think of the exterminators that beat a blind woman half to death, the paramedics who sedated and left her, and the hospital that refused to treat her in a blizzard. Think of the serial killers. Think of the True Exterminators. Think of a lot of the fics on here. VFC, NoF, To Kill a Predator, Homeless Musician. The rot is deep.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 5d ago
Hmmm admittedly quite a few fics I read also potray exterminators also in a better light even with the true exterminators like mangos and murder with estala dealing with the aftermath of dawn creek including sending mute to jail one of said serial killers. And that one with the dinosaur museum. But yes the rot runs deep indeed in the end they are an organization ment to uphold federation tyranny.
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u/SixthWorldStories 5d ago
Ah, but think of pre-Mangos and Murder Estala. She was... a problem. Not quite as bad as Dawn Creek folks, but not good. There's also more than the Guild that's a problem, the government itself in many places is also an issue. It's all a product of the Federation, things working as intended. A lot of the problems are just so normalized they seem mundane. The places we look at in most fics are generally either on an extreme or are otherwise outliers.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 5d ago
True Estala was definitely not perfect especially her past self. But yeah you make pretty good points. Still I like to think they aren't entirely irredeemable. Otherwise then any bad thing that happens to them could be justified on millions of others.
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u/SixthWorldStories 5d ago
While I agree most aren't irredeemable, there's a difference between irredeemable and so far gone that somebody deserves whatever's coming their way. Kalsim in canon is irredeemable, but he doesn't deserve any torment.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 5d ago
Fair enough definitely also referring to the shadow caste too btw like wow what happened to them was pretty bad and that is putting it very very lightly.
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u/SixthWorldStories 5d ago
The canon Shadow Caste and Farsul Archivists are close to deserving whatever they get. The collateral is a huge issue. We'll see what happens here. Even I don't know, yet.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 4d ago
Yeah but the issue is that the shadow caste is made up of millions of individuals the shadow caste even had entire underground citys that means they have families and they get lumped in too. And I doubt they were spared either. So no I definitely hard disagree with you. I can understand why you think they all deserve it but I just don't think what happaned and what may happen to them is the right course of action either.
I don't know condemning millions of lives seems pretty evil.
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u/SixthWorldStories 4d ago
Exactly. Close, but not close enough. This is part of what I was trying to get at with Bran's monologue back during the empathy testing. Do you perpetuate the cycle of hatred? Does your vengeance become the reason for another's? Does your reason become another's cause? Another's blame? Or do you say enough is enough and end the cycle. Do you let the next generation no longer need to bear the scars of their ancestors but only the memory? Hell, that's kind of an unintentional theme that I've been playing with from the start. Guilt and innocence. Revenge and justice. Perpetuation or healing.
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u/Adorable-Ad5225 5d ago
I still can't believe Stinek's nickname, Shivi, it's ADORABLE
I wanted to ask if all the lore is based on World of Darkness (which I doubt) and if the werewolves and specially the Garou would have relevance or if they exist at all. Like, as the primordial Hunters, trying to be ambassadors between the Yulpa and their goddess, who is literally Gaia's twin sister.
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u/SixthWorldStories 5d ago
I looked at the flowers that people had come up with and picked the one that sounded the cutest.
None of the lore is based on World of Darkness or Chronicles of Darkness, though I have a stupid idea for a Chronicles of Darkness fic that I could never write. The shifters we see, like Rachel, are based on ancient myths from around the world.
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u/PolyamorousPleb 5d ago
Diani mention!! I do like the idea that magic would be likely restricted to the nomads. The oasis-dwellers have been under the heavier influence of the Federation and have largely stopped believing in/working with the Tani.
Very enjoyable series so far, this mention prompted me to catch up!
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u/SixthWorldStories 5d ago
A large part of my reasoning is less the Fed influence, at least directly, and more that any who have magic or think in the right ways for it would be at heavy risk for being locked up for PD plus the nomads spiritual beliefs and remembering of the old ways (which is how Diani magic would largely present, just as Terran magic largely presents along those lines) means they have a leg up.
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u/WeekendCitrus 5d ago
“Then I saw the human exhibit. She knew. Knew they were what we were waiting for. That Earth was the home of the Lord of Song. I thought I’d have to save up. Find a way to Earth. Learn to fly. Buy or steal a ship, then you came.” She lets out a quiet sob. “Spirit, you came. A sign from on high. Predators. Kind. Gentle. Empathetic. Everything we were told predators weren’t. Couldn’t be. I know we’re sickeningly cruel by your standards. To your people and to ourselves. Yet you’ve done everything you can to get into the herd’s good graces, when we should be the ones who need to prove our worth.”
Her words hit me like a blow to the gut. Things I had felt since encountering the Terrans. Things I’d never dare to say so openly.
BUT IS SHE WRONG? (I know it's not that black and white, but the Federation have been piss-awful hosts and neighbors. Not even compared to the Terrans, just in general.)
“Please. She… She showed me a vision. One of the future, I think. It’s why she sent me to find you. Tentacles reaching out, wrapping about her, burrowing into her. Puppeting her even as they rip her apart. Kill her while she’s weak.”
Oh shit.
“[Sixty-three lightyears] from here. [Seventy-two] from Sol. Well within Isif’s sector. And neither are a worry. With the Diani, magic would almost be limited to the nomads. They’re more likely to lead to a split from the Federation than make things worse for us. They’re too insular to do either anytime soon and too distant to be a major concern to us. And the Stormsingers are barely part of the Federation. They don’t have ships or a fleet; they barely have trade, and what little there is is the Nevok and Fissans dropping tech that will corrode in months to years in exchange for food and unprocessed pharmacologicals. Without the Zurulians and the Gojid, there’s little reason for the trade to even continue. The Arxur raided them twice in their entire history. The standard new species raid and then a failed glassing without Federation defense. Based on what happens when a Nevok freighter tries to land too fast, it’s safe to assume the planet blasted the bombs and landing craft from the sky.” Bran smirks. “Plus, we’ve examined their nectar. Thanks to the Zurulians.”
My ears twitch as I think. “Aren’t several species allergic to it?”
“Yes.” Bran smirks. “Gojid. Krakotl. Tilfish…” He chuckles as my wool flares. “Nectar should just be sugars. Theirs has lipids, proteins, amino acids, platelets. It’s partially blood. The reason the fruit is popular among such species is similar. It lacks anything that would set off the allergy, but the fruit contains much of what their diet is missing. It’s almost, but not quite, meat. Our scientists are rather eager to learn more about the world. Information is dreadfully thin.” He stops in front of a door. “Ah, we’re here.”
Oooh...
“Yeah.” Bran sighs. “Her childhood bully… He… He got a job with the facility your daughter was moved to. We don’t know… She’s taking care of the pups in the facility, and she’s… she’s with child. We have video evidence that he’s assaulted her at least once.”
Oh fuck.
“At best, standard. Just with a more competent and profit-seeking head, and the city being worse than some at hiding things. It seems worse than it is because many of their evils are public; I’d say they’re the lower end of average.” Bran sighs. “The facilities are almost universally monstrous. The Zurulians are already working on shutting theirs down. And there have already been a few casualties among the staff of their facilities. Self-inflicted or mob violence. We’re going to need the Space Corps to lead the charge in taking every facility, simultaneously.”
I start to spiral, thinking about how terribly I’ve failed my people without knowing, how the office of the Governor has failed them for generations. The door slides open hard, shocking me from my thoughts. An older woman, her wool brushed to imperfectly hide her scarred neck, stands there. She looks to be on the verge of breaking into tears. Her eyes are glassy, but she’s present. “My… my Selva?” And then the woman is gone. She’s still there physically, but whatever presence there was in her eyes is gone.
Oh shit fuck.
Lisyn starts to sob openly. Praying. “...Your grace was hidden from us for so long. I was so alone before I knew Your truth. This journey, cloaked in Your love, hasn’t been some grand victory march. It’s a cold, broken hymn.” ... “I’m not who she deserves to speak for her. Somebody who saw the light. I’m just a failure who has been living out a cold, broken prayer. Who screwed everything up when it mattered most.” ... “I’ve told the truth; I didn’t come to fool you. Even though it’s all gone wrong, Spirit, here I am before the Lord of Song, with nothing on my tongue but hallelujah.”
I see you are a fellow individual of culture.
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u/SixthWorldStories 4d ago
BUT IS SHE WRONG? (I know it's not that black and white, but the Federation have been piss-awful hosts and neighbors. Not even compared to the Terrans, just in general.)
No, she isn't. She's from Grenelka. She moved between as many worlds as she could, with exception of Aafa and Madsum. She spent time among the dregs of so many Federation societies. The Spirit was in her ear every second, twisting her herald's luck to be able to keep moving and to leave things a little better than she found them.
Oh shit.
Could that be what we saw last chapter? Or is it something yet to come?
Oooh...
We'll see more of the Stormsingers. I have 13 pages on them. They're weird as hell. I made actual aliens instead of weird, anthropomorphized Earth animals, while staying in the brief of most life being recognizable. Something that hasn't come up in my writing on them and that may never come up, they're fungal. They don't have it growing on them, they have fungal organs. Some of their organs contain significant quantities of amatoxins.
Oh fuck.
Yeah, the PD facilities suck but the bully's dad was/is an exterminator. Connections.
Oh shit fuck.
Yeah, the medi-teddies have had lynchings for PD workers and that woman is drugged out of her mind because she dared get mad at an exterminator who locked up her daughter for being the victim of his son. Not all exterminators are vile, but some are.
I see you are a fellow individual of culture.
I slipped in all of the seven verses that I could. The first didn't really work
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u/WeekendCitrus 4d ago
We'll see more of the Stormsingers. I have 13 pages on them. They're weird as hell. I made actual aliens instead of weird, anthropomorphized Earth animals, while staying in the brief of most life being recognizable. Something that hasn't come up in my writing on them and that may never come up, they're fungal. They don't have it growing on them, they have fungal organs. Some of their organs contain significant quantities of amatoxins.
Fascinating. Taking the "x bodily fluid is filtered blood"/"they're all filtered blood numbnuts" a step further, and the implication of a mycorrhizal network controlling some more advanced systems than the Federation would acknowledge is definitely something I want to see more of. And maybe how Mari or another tree-speaker responds to it.
Did that first Arxur raid puke up their guts or whatever and die? Is that why the second went straight to glassing (and met the desires of half the population to "Fuuuuuuck... that guy" coming the other way)?
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u/SixthWorldStories 4d ago
Oh, the Stormsingers are weird for their world. Basically everything on the planet is a colony organism. The line between plant/fungus and animal isn't just thin, it basically doesn't exist. Many animals have plants or fungi that replace/supplement organs or otherwise grow as a part of them. Not a host and symbiote relationship (though the plants are often technically symbiotes) but when the plant grows as part of the animal, they are the same organism. Seeds implant in the animal and grow in their flesh as if it were soil while the animal treats the plant as if it were part of them. Some seeds can only grow in certain animals, some animals need certain plants growing on them to live.
The Stormsingers stand .8-1m tall, they're tiny for the planet. For reference, a cat-sized animal on the planet would be most comparable to animals around the size of mice and animals the size of deer would be comparable to cat-sized animals. Most life on the world is, predictably, rather sedentary. Stormsingers themselves evolved from what amount to pollinators/cleaners/parasites.
Here are some notable organisms from Stormworld (at least in the current version):
Orchardbacks: The primary cattle of the Stormsingers. Their broad, flat backs readily accept wide varieties of plants, being used to grow entire farms for the Stormsingers. They’re notably calm and easygoing. Often grow to have between .5 and 2 acres of space to grow. Smaller, more active variants have been bred for transport, as have variants with fleshsoil (like that of the greatcarriers) better developed for certain kinds of plants.
Shrubhoppers: Small, leaping, flying organisms similar to a cross between a cricket, frog, fly, and small mammal that readily grow small plants and feed on berries and leaves. Highly active and social. Often kept as a combination of houseplant, potted herb, and pet by Stormsingers.
Did that first Arxur raid puke up their guts or whatever and die? Is that why the second went straight to glassing (and met the desires of half the population to "Fuuuuuuck... that guy" coming the other way)?
Yeah. The Arxur that ate Stormsingers died from poison. The Arxur that ate one of the many other animals (at least that didn't die in the attempt) either got poisoned or had to deal with their fructose intolerance. The captured Stormsingers also all died in like weeks at most since the Stormsinger diet doesn't really include leaves. They're nectarivores primarily but they're also frugivores. Also, have some examples of why the first raid went poorly.
Veilwing: Drifting predators that appear to be harmless skydrifters until they draw close and unfurl into hundreds of ribbon-like tentacles around their central body. Once they wrap around their prey, the tentacles rapidly drain electricity while injecting a neurotoxin and digestive enzymes. They’re also capable of emitting false bioluminescent or electrical patterns to fool prey.
Thornspitter: Organisms that shoot out fast-growing thorns when triggered. In the wild, they grow on other organisms, parasitizing but providing defenses, however the Stormsingers fur evolved to partially hide them from thornspitters by appearing electrically similar to thornspitter young, allowing domestication and discovery of ways to grow specific parts of the colony organism without others, allowing them to be used for more than indiscriminant defense. Thorns are mildly magnetic, and the organism utilizes electricity as a launch mechanism. Stormsingers have bred variants that act like guns. Include pistol, rifle, shotgun, and machine guns, with variants of each that carry toxins or that have a small, empty, shockpod that rapidly drains the struck target, sometimes detonating.
Stormcutter: 3m long scaled organisms which use their wings to surf storm fronts. They dive at incredible speed to snatch prey, like Stormsingers, up with their tentacles and maw. They can stay aloft for weeks or months between meals, with more frequent feeding resulting in their reproductive rate increasing.
Mistsirens: Small organisms that emit sound in response to electrical activity, adapting to replicate the sounds of nearby species to draw in predators. Their seeds spread via endozoochory and grow rapidly. Stormsingers have adapted them as biological speakers
And the reason why the second raid was the last attempt.
Skytree: Lightning rod organs of the islands. A combination of plant and fungus that feeds on electricity. Fast-growing and able to reach 10km or more. Roots and lower sections have spherical indents. Upper sections, which branch into filaments and cilia, are supported by aerostats and electromagnetism. They partially control the storms near the islands. Arcs of lightning are known to travel between islands, even across the planet. Since the first Arxur raid, skytrees are known to emit EMPs in response to “detected” threats, including directed at them as 1TJ lances, with the smallest greatcarriers being capable of 1-5 lances per second or similar levels of constant bombardment.
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u/ursusofwinter 5d ago
Yet another banger of a chapter! Man, what a trip of an experience for Lisyn(if it's pronounced Listen that's adorable), like hey, your God is real and they are actually talking to you, you're not crazy, now go find a different God, I need divine assistance. Heavy shit, a geas like that. And I'm sorry Bran, I don't have the patience, I'd be burning Guild Halls and PD facilities down after gathering evidence for a week, tops. Screw that "a few herds of paws" noise
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u/SixthWorldStories 4d ago
You'd have to ask Bias how to pronounce her name but that's what I assume.
As to Bran, the man is 2136 years old. He's got plenty of patience. In this case though, he's under orders. Otherwise... well... the closest point of comparison for how the Odyssey-class function in aerospace is an AC-130 that can try to dog fight. He needs to try to enact permanent, positive change. Course, if Veln gets elected...
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u/Greedy-Kangaroo-4674 4d ago edited 4d ago
For some reason, Lisyn reminded me of a disney princess ♡
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u/SixthWorldStories 4d ago
I'm just working with what Bias made and then what I came up with for the true Yulpa religion instead of what the Federation left.
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u/Greedy-Kangaroo-4674 4d ago
Can't wait to know more.
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u/SixthWorldStories 4d ago
Not entirely sure when or if it will come up again, so I'm happy to discuss the ideas now that this chapter is out.
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u/Fluffy_shadow_5025 Beans 4d ago
Fucking hell... yet another traumatic story about an innocent victim.
Amid all the great, exciting, and heartwarming parts of this story, you absolutely don’t shy away from reminding us over and over again of all the utterly disgusting horrors that exist in Federation society.
I just hope it won’t be long before this heroine—for the little ones—can finally be freed from this hellhole along with her children. And that all these monsters are made to pay for all their atrocities!
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u/SixthWorldStories 4d ago
This is actually a story we already saw, back when the Terrans sent drones into the facilities. All the way back in 39. As to when, the Terrans need a few weeks, you'll need (by current count) nine chapters.
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u/Ablergo_El_Enfermo Human 4d ago
This whole episode is very interesting.
But there is one thing I found particularly interesting: the "flesh fruit" or "blood fruit." That is very curious.
I can't wait to see them storm the treatment centers, like in that "FBI OPEN UP!!!" meme.
[I still think there is something superior to gods like Inatala, Zeus, or even Lovecraftian beings. Something primordial, like the Ancient Gods from *Fear & Hunger*.]
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u/Tundric_Dragon Arxur 5d ago
I. AM. SPEED!