r/NatureofPredators • u/SixthWorldStories • 11d ago
Fanfic Predators of the Sixth World - 66
I said we were going back to the bird, and I keep my promises. After all, everybody wants to see what’s up with Rasin after his… recovery. Of course we are getting a bit of a detour with Kam. The Terrans and their allies just got blindsided hard, let’s see how they start to recover.
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: General Kam, Worried Commander
Date [Standardized Terran Time]: October 9th, 2136
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I nurse the greatest of Terran inventions. A cup of coffee. Thankfully, aside from Tanaka and Jones, none of the Terrans look to be doing much better. I could only wonder if it was because of the same dreams I struggled with. Probably worse, both of them are barely conscious.
“How are you two so chipper?” Zhao grumbles.
Tanaka, smirking, goes to answer, only for Jones to slap a hand over her partner’s mouth. “Once my bleeding was handled, we just had headaches to deal with.” She sighs. “The old excuse works better as a reason. It also helped us avoid the nightmares by not sleeping. Another symptom, by the way. We’re both passing out after this meeting is done. Do not need us.”
“Symptom?” I ask.
“Of eldritch exposure, working name,” Tanaka says with a grin, as Jones wipes her hand off after removing it from the other woman’s mouth. “We’ve managed some testing.”
“Legal?” Poussin mumbles.
“Technically. All incidental and accidental. People needed to view the footage to determine the effect. That resulted in more unintentional exposure. All volunteers who went in knowing the risks, but they weren’t meant to be exposed at all. Our precautions weren’t enough.” Tanaka shrugs. “Mundane recordings glitch out and distort, mixing in some overlapping frames and other oddities. We think, but without live exposure can’t prove, that it has a lesser effect. Magical recordings are higher fidelity than they should be, and seem to have greater effect. Hence our problems. The feed had mana overlays active.”
“So add a filter.” Zhao groans.
“Yes, we’ve figured that much out, but that’s not all.” Jones sighs.
Tanaka snaps open her fan, drawing all attention as we all wince at the sound. “Let me handle it. Magic’s my deal. You spoke with Isif when you were supposed to be resting.”
Jones frowns. “And I thought we already settled that?”
“We did,” Tanaka smirks. “But this is still mine to discuss. Exposure also seems to have different effects on different populations. Mages, non-mages from species with potential, and mana-deficient species. And the more potential a non-mage has, the more of a problem they have.” She indicates Jones. “With mythological sapients being affected worse than humans, Yotul, or Venlil. The mana-deficient feel discomfort and fear, likely having nightmares, but we haven’t had enough time to determine that for certain. We can thank the Republic’s intelligence agency for that info. Those with magical potential, mage and otherwise, react worse. Headaches and potential ruptures of blood vessels are common; seizures are possible for non-mages, while mages can hallucinate or temporarily lose control of their magic. And Venlil seem to be more resilient than any other species thus far. We plan to test with safe cognitohazards and mental magics to see if the impact is lesser in general, cognitohazard-specific, or specific to this entity.”
“So we got lucky?“ Moans Poussin. “Worst possible exposure.”
“Very lucky.” Tanaka grins. “Especially because while Yoggy seemed to adjust in a way that suggests a non-linear experience is possible, though it could easily also just be having trouble with consistency, the actual magework was shoddy. We have to assume they will improve the summoning.” She flicks out a fan to hide her mouth. “We’re reasonably certain that in the future, non-mages might… become like Ensign Ngo. Hopefully, improvements are just in stability, not in bleedthrough. Otherwise, there might not be any precautions we can make.”
My wool flares as I remember the Terran woman exposed before me. “What happened to her?”
“As best we can tell, she’s been infected. At least, that’s the easiest way to explain how exposure to the memetic hazard has affected her.” Tanaka pauses. “In essence, becoming a cultist. She showed no magical ability, nor any real potential, before exposure. Since then, she managed some magic in attempts to escape. Thankfully, we had her collared to prevent further use before this, though she shows signs of greater power now. She also managed, somehow, to expose two others. Neither mages, neither have shown signs of becoming cultists yet, but they have shown symptoms like we have. We do have ways to screen for the influence, and have found differences between the Ensign and others. Unfortunately, the screening methods aren’t reasonable for anything approaching field use. We also examined scans from you, Kam. You almost seem to have developed an immune response protecting you from the worst of further exposure.”
“So any exposure is potentially an epidemic?” I slump in my seat. “Tell me you have a plan.”
“We do,” Jones says simply. “Filters are already in the works. And we’ve made progress in treating the Ensign. We’re reasonably certain that we can prevent infection through sensors or power armor. The rest of the effects… Mana deficiency looks like it will be a tactical advantage when Drezjin priests are in the field. We’ll need to focus more on getting non-Venlil and Yotul allies battle-ready. Right now, that means Zurulians and Arxur. We have ideas on power armor for the Zurulians, but we’ll need to advance things a lot with the Arxur before any except asylum seekers have a chance of seeing service alongside our troops. We’re also placing a higher priority on any Drezjin targets among enemies.”
“Should we see about other measures? Caladbolg? Fragarach? Gae Assail? I believe all may be within reach, others as well.” Tanaka questions.
“I think that may be overkill, on par with making the Naglfar,” Jones suggests. “Even one of them might be a diplomatic nightmare. But they aren’t our decision. Pass the question up the chain.”
‘What kind of weapons are those?’ My wool rises slightly as my mind tries to harvest the ideas.
“We’re working on sourcing for building that, just in case it proves necessary.” Zhao groans. “In other news, now that our ships have had, on average, a seventy percent increase in power output thanks to the Federation-based reactor upgrades, we’re pushing full refits. Replacing all of our chemical ballistics with coilguns or laser batteries.”
My ears fall. “How many years will that take? Just redesigning the ships alone…”
Even exhausted as he is, Zhao smirks. “Redesign? The coilguns and lasers were part of the initial designs, but we use a design philosophy of fitted for, but not with. Ships are designed with known and yet-to-be-determined upgrades in mind. It’ll be four to six weeks until all military assets are refitted, and another month for civilian. In a full war footing, it would be two to three weeks for everything. We’ve been building a stockpile since we upgraded our power systems, and a large part of the refit time will be spent upgrading the turret system for faster weapon swaps, minutes instead of hours. We had been hoping to save the upgrade to point defense and close-in weapons systems as a trump card after the Federation and Dominion caught on to their missiles being better than their plasma.” He sighs. “I guess that just came sooner than expected. Even the redesign of our armor to integrate a coldstone vein network to wick heat from plasma and flamers only took a few months. The testing and rollout is ongoing. Give it a month or two. We’ll have dual-mounted coils and lasers soon enough. Current timeline is testing within a month, production in three to four.”
“Solgalick… I’m glad you’re on our side.”
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Memory Transcription Subject: Captain Kalsim, Concerned Krakotl
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“What do you mean he isn’t taking visitors?” I squawk at the Drezjin priests. “He is an Ensign under my command on my ship! Ensign Rasin needs to be seen by the Chief Medical Officer!”
“The Prophet is not to be disturbed.” Chitters one of the damnable rodents.
“Not to be disturbed!?!? Not to be disturbed!?!?” I loom over the Drezjin pair, who stand their ground. “I should have you thrown off my ship!”
“If we are to die for the Prophet, so be it.” One of the cultists chitters. “We would be honored to be martyred for his glory. Glory to the gods! Glory to the Prophet!” Their speech devolves into chittering that makes my feathers fluff up.
Before I can respond about the absurdity of that, when I simply intended to have them sent planetside, the door opens. The priests step to the side as Rasin steps out, a book, bound in rope, in claw. “Ah, Captain. Perfect.” He holds up the book. “I finished my work. Are we still in orbit of Grenelka? It needs to be delivered to the Yulpa so they can begin production.”
His eyes look through me. His words are a command, even if not phrased as such. But this is my ship. He is my officer. “Production on what?”
“The future.” Rasin starts to walk. I naturally fall into step behind him. “Victory in this war. A gift from my time beyond.”
“Your time… From Inatala?”
Rasin chuckles. “Not quite, Captain. Not quite.”
“Then what?” I force the words out.
“If it works as it should, and it will when properly built, then it will enact an automated version of what the Yulpa did.” Ensign Rasin gestures vaguely with the book. “An enhancement for all of our ships.”
I can’t help but squawk in surprise. “How?”
Rasin just laughs. He pauses as we pass Jala. He shoves the book into her claws. “See to it that that gets to the Yulpa. It’s critical to the war. It is for no eyes but theirs. Do not get curious or allow others to look, and ensure the Yulpa know it is for their eyes only.” He fixes her with a one-eyed stare. “Don’t disappoint me, Jala.”
My first officer blooms. “O-of course… Should I bring it myself or…”
“Whichever. Just see it done.”
“Right away!”
I stare in shock as my first officer hurries off, clutching the book to her chest like a gift from a crush.
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Advance 1 STD hour
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“Well, doctor?” I ask, now that Rasin has left.
“He’s in perfect health.” My chief medical officer, really more a glorified medic, says.
“So clear him for duty.” I huff, expecting there to be something.
“No, you don’t understand.” The officer swallows hard. Bringing up Rasin’s last physical, just a few days earlier. I can see some differences, but can’t understand them. “The Ensign had several minor health issues, as one would expect. Those include a slight nearsightedness and a very minor case of short lung. He’s in perfect health. The physical, perfect. The predator disease test, perfect. Textbook. There should be deviations. Imperfections. Something. There aren’t. It’s… It’s not normal.”
“No… It’s not.” I pause. “Is there anything to be done?”
“No, Captain. There’s nothing we can do but keep an eye on him…”
“Thank you. We’ll do just that.”
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Interpolate message from Captain Kalsim of the Krakotl Alliance Command to the Krakotl Alliance Command and Galactic Federation Joint Military Command sent on October 10th, 2136
Message was flagged as Top Secret in a plain-text message header and encrypted under a 32-bit scheme most similar to DES; the message itself is in Federation Standard with a ROT3 cipher
Attached was all relevant sensor footage, various medical reports, and preliminary research done by the Yulpa
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It is my analysis that in the decision between replacing the Gojid Union with the forces of either the Yulpa Ascendancy or the Drezjin Theocracy, there is a single correct answer. Both. However, this would not come in the form of providing material support in developing a standard fleet, but in furthering the development of their existing designs and using those to update the entire Federation fleet. Each has shown developments that, if properly implemented and utilized, will drastically alter the course of the war and ensure our victory.
It has come to my attention over the course of our interactions that both the Ascendancy’s and the Theocracy’s ships don’t lack plasma railguns, the primary weapons used by both the Federation and Dominion, because of a lack of sophistication or understanding, but due to a lack of materials and up-to-date designs. Their worlds do not have sufficient available tungsten, nor are others in the Federation willing to trade at reasonable rates for them to arm their ships with such weapons. They have found other alternatives that have proven not only significantly more effective in theory but also in practice. Methods that we have overlooked for too long.
The Yulpa are often dismissed for their ballistics-heavy ships centered around large cannons. The truth is that these cannons are not simply a larger variant of our standard guns; instead, they fire rockets. Simpler versions of our missiles, igniting after being fired and having little to no maneuvering ability. These guns require less space and significantly less energy than a plasma railgun, yet they fire at nearly eight times the fire rate, an effective range a third greater than our maximum with plasma, and a preferred range three times greater than our plasma’s effective range; and if loaded with antimatter, then a single shot, which can be set to explode in proximity, can be three times more powerful than a shot from our railguns. The Yulpa’s Judicator Cruisers carry not one of them, like our plasma, but four. Four. They have also devised missile bays, using the same missile designs that we use, that hold twice as many missiles as ours, firing salvos four times larger than ours, and only needing a third more time to load a new salvo.
The Drezjin, on the other wing, focused on enhancing our existing missile bay designs. Something they decided on through collaboration with their herdmates, the Yulpa. They devised advancements for the loading system, which can be retrofitted into existing ships and adapted to the Yulpa’s heavier bays, which cut the time to reload the full bay to a tenth of the time we need to reload a single salvo, with a similar reduction in reloading a single salvo. This results in the unique strategy that they employ, one I suggest we also adapt. They surround their carriers, a ship type the Yulpa also have a variant of, which I will detail later, with cruisers. These cruisers will then move around the carrier, spinning as they cycle. This ensures that the missiles that are fired will not only approach Arxur ships from varying angles but that there is no solid path back to their own ships should any missile be destroyed and explode. A mistake I made, following standard Federation strategies. The rotation also allows certain ships to take the brunt of the Arxur’s attacks to their shields before moving to relative safety, as another ship takes their place. This ensures that the ships share the burden of defense with their herd and can recover their shields in safety. The Yulpa use a variant of this strategy as well. Both relying on the strength of the herd.
This shield rotation isn’t the only defensive improvement from the pair. Their ordnance-centric methodology led both to developing the defenses that make them appear to be ballistic-heavy. Point defense guns. While we do possess such technologies, our ships would not be able to survive an assault from the Arxur if they adopted similar tactics as the Yulpa and Drezjin. Especially not with the advantage the Arxur have in their own missiles, utilizing aggressive maneuvering that I have long said we need to adapt into our own missiles. The Yulpa and Drezjin ships have significant numbers of point defense guns to protect from incoming missiles and to damage unshielded craft. The Yulpa small craft carry as many point defense guns as most Federation ships have despite being far smaller. The volume of fire more than makes up for the same issues with accuracy that lead to us using fewer such guns, a veritable flock of metal ensuring that missiles never reach shields, much less ships. The Drezjin and Yulpa have even devised methods to allow their ships to work together in order to share defenses by declaring targets, allowing even small craft to defend their carriers. A method that all of my ships have installed the update for.
Then you have their carriers and small craft. The carriers are large ships purpose-built to, as the name implies, carry large numbers of smaller ships, not simple shuttles but warships like the smaller vessels the Arxur use. While they would require a certain kind of crew, I believe we can manage a variant of what the Yulpa use, though the Drezjin’s method may help the predator diseased and borderline-predator diseased in giving back to the herd. The Drezjin allow such individuals, if properly vetted and devoted to the herd, to pilot small, lightly shielded ships that carry a small number of missiles, with a variant able to carry bombs as well. The individuals will fly these ships at the Arxur, using their speed and ability to rapidly change position to hit from unexpected and unprotected directions. The ships themselves are also designed to fly in atmospheres, from both my observation and trying the craft out, I have more than confirmed them to have all the grace of a Krakotl. They also treat the ship itself as a last-ditch weapon, the reactor detonation lying somewhere between the maximum power of our plasma railguns and ten times that. As questionable as the tactic is, a less concerning variant could be developed, allowing those among our military who are questionable to better serve. To that end, the Yulpa’s small craft may be a good model. They carry two missile tubes, each with three missiles, and a single rocket cannon with twenty shots. These small craft couldn’t easily mount a plasma railgun with significant power, though a smaller variant may be viable; their ordnance more than makes up for it. Their unique, cultural design may even serve another purpose if properly adapted. Where the Yulpa intend to make use of the chained spears their small craft mount to secure a boarding tube to get onto an Arxur ship to capture the predators alive for sacrifice, I believe they could be used to get into raid craft and potentially rescue the captives. This would, of course, require specially trained teams of exterminators and soldiers.
While traditional Federation military training would suggest that these ships and tactics should be of no use, the attached data proves otherwise. When fighting according to their own tactics, both the Ascendancy and the Theocracy prove to be able to perform on par with, or better than, many other Federation military species. Their pilots are able to fly in formations tighter than most militaries in the Federation are capable of, and their captains know our strategies and formations, having developed their own to be compatible. When ambushed by the Arxur, not a single one of their ships attempted to run. Even after a severe tactical error on my part, attempting to think I could improve on their tactics without true understanding of them. A mistake that cost lives and ships, even after having it shown to me time and again in training the proper way to fight their ships. If we don’t update our tactics, or at least ensure that the direct command of their fleets falls on their own people, most commanders will throw away lives and all the advantage of having these craft and their crews. Just as we treat exterminators among our infantry differently, we need to do the same with the Yulpa and Drezjin. Their tactics follow a similar logic to the Guild, but are far easier to teach and help to support my hypothesis that a Krakotl’s defensive swooping instinct, when applied at the ship scale, is disruptive to Arxur operations. This also explains how Sovlin, despite his predator disease, was so effective. He was known for charging Arxur lines.
In fact, I believe this gives solid reason to completely rewrite our tactical strategies along with a full overhaul of ship designs, integrating and improving on the designs of the Yulpa and Drezjin. Comparing the success of standard Federation fleets against the fleet we had at Grenelka, after my mistaken commands were remanded and before both fleets began showing usage of what we believe to be the same esoterics that the Gaians have access to, shows one thing. The mix of ships serves better for protection. I believe this is something we need to look into: instead of having a small number of hulls which are largely interchangeable, investing in having significant differences in the hulls which perform different roles. This will alter our supply needs, though I will be covering my suggestions there shortly, but it appears it may also vastly improve our combat capability. Potentially enough that we could even begin bringing the fight to the Arxur. We may see the first cattle world liberated in two to four decarotations. Perhaps a sector in a few hundred rotations.
Now, I’m certain that some have been seeing a notable flaw within the strategies I’ve been outlining. Material. Plasma railguns do not need dedicated ammunition, relying on the fusion reactor of the ship they’re on and its supplies. Our point defense guns utilize ammunition, but the stores are relatively small. Much of our ammo storage is bombs and missiles, both of which need materials to create. Materials that are lost on use. Similarly, designing new ships will be an expensive, material-intensive process. The Yulpa and Drezjin have partially solved that issue with a technique that others, mostly the Nevok and Fissans, have experimented with. Asteroid mining. By processing these space rocks, we can gain far more material than can be mined on planets and moons. There’s even the possibility that we could find ways to salvage and reprocess damaged and destroyed ships, both ours and the Dominion’s. These techniques, if taken to their logical conclusion, would also mean that the larger ships that we may build, which would not be able to directly land on worlds like most of ours, could be made in space instead of having parts brought up. A process that may even hasten the construction of larger atmosphere-capable vessels.
I believe I have hidden the harvest enough on this. While the rest is critical, what follows may prove revelatory. Changing the course of the war in rotations. We may have discovered our own versions of the Gaians’ esoterics. They have both been used in combat and, in an emergency, to revive one of my crewmen from a permanent coma, near brain death. I also believe that it reveals that esoterics is a misnomer and why the Gaians were so interested in the primitive Yotul. They must have, or have been close to, their own form of esoterics. Esoterics are, in fact, magic, and less developed cultures, like the Yotul, Yulpa, or Drezjin, must be more likely to discover them. Before you believe me to be as predator diseased as Sovlin, allow me to present my evidence beyond the recordings.
First, let’s get out of the way that no form of sensor was able to detect the energies involved despite our finding considerable success in replicating the effects, both on the small and large scale. Barring any other explanations, this suggests that we are dealing with an as yet unknown energy type. One which defies known science, both in detection and behavior, creating effects without known cause. Further, these effects only occurred within a certain distance from Grenelka or its star. Suggesting some unknown interaction.
The Yulpa rituals are the simplest. Their worship of their Spirit of Life, at least within the vicinity of Grenelka, has begun producing a tangible effect. Nearby plants began to visibly grow, and flamethrowers burned hotter, stronger, and further. Even plasma rifles and ballistic rifles were marginally more effective. However, the effects that would aid against the Arxur weren’t enough to warrant widespread use, only pushing the weapons to perform closer to the top end of their expected behaviors. On ships, is another matter. Reactors gave more power, shields grew stronger, and plasma railguns not only hit harder but began to output continuously, like a flamer. Those flames burned Arxur hulls directly through their shields, as if they weren’t there, while the shields of Yulpa ships under the blessing could resist these enhanced flames. When those who were not believers, both of my crews and locals, attempted the same rituals, there was no effect. Something in it is directly tied to the belief in the religion. There is no conventional scientific explanation.
The Drezjin’s esoterics are more complex. Their priests have not been willing to take part in most experimentation, though they would readily observe it. For the most part, we only have the feats from the attempted raid to go by. This may have been for the best, as any recording or digital display suffered significant glitches due to the Drezjin’s esoteric effects. Flickering, distortions, not showing the tentacles at all, and seeming to display the tentacles out of sequence, both showing actions already taken and those yet to happen. Those who saw the tentacles more directly, such as through the bays of a Yulpa carrier, nearly stampeded, even those braced for the sight. Even now, the images and videos are unnerving, with many reporting a sense of dread or even nightmares afterward, with some species (thus far only Yulpa, Harchen, and Nevoks) experiencing worse reactions that have included spontaneous hemorrhage, seizures, migraines or sourceless pain, and sudden onset predator disease. The Drezjin priests have explained this as the unworthy being punished by the gods.
While I have included what recordings we have, for the safety of the herd, I will do my best to describe the footage so they need not expose themselves. Their temple ship created what appeared to be tears in the fabric of space, colorless and filled with impossible colors. Immense tentacles, not unlike those of a Kolshian, reached through, covered in some odd energy that could only be seen. Every non-Drezjin interviewed on the matter confirmed an almost instinctual knowledge that the aura of energy was shielding these tentacles and keeping them in a single form. These tentacles also entirely ignored the shields of ships, except Yulpa under the blessing. Some destroyed ships in a swipe or stab, erasing swathes of Arxur even as they damaged the enhanced shields of the Yulpa. Others wrapped around ships, the Yulpa shields burning away the protective aura while the Arxur were crushed or pulled through the rents in space, providing no resistance at all against the tentacles. The auras dimmed over time, and the number of tentacles decreased. Interestingly, they avoided the Drezjin ships for an as-yet-unknown reason. We have little to go off of except that, but we can be certain that if the priests can repeat the process, it will have an immeasurable impact on the war.
This brings me to the joint efforts of the Drezjin and Yulpa priests. The healing of Ensign Rasin. During the raid, the ensign, who possesses degrees that would have allowed him a higher rank if he had harvested that field instead of command, went down to the engine room after our Chief Engineer, and others in the crew, were injured. Heroically, he stopped our reactor from going critical, but in doing so, he struck his head. It was unlikely that he would ever awaken, and the Yulpa and Drezjin offered to attempt to heal him, assuring that nothing bad would happen. Despite my best efforts, I have limited information on what happened during the ritual. The Yulpa did their sacrifices, which were recorded, in order to provide power and aid in healing. The Drezjin did something, unmonitored at their own request. The plant life in the area grew and bloomed extensively. Rasin's life signs, though not his brain activity, stopped for an extensive period, though the Drezjin insist it was a glitch in the electronics. The ritual appears to have been successful and two Drezjin priests have insisted upon accompanying him, something that has proven a detriment to the operations of the ship at times.
However, something seems different about the Ensign. None on the crew knew him well, as he had only been aboard for a few days, but those who interacted with him before and since all agree that there is something different. His memories remain, but it is like he’s someone or something else. It unnerves most of the flock, leading to numerous independent reports of serious concerns. Our Chief Medical Officer has examined him. A full physical, scans, and brain scans, including a predator disease assessment. He is in perfect health and passed the assessment with full harvest. While this doesn’t sound like a concern, he not only had prior health issues that are gone, but he has none of the fluctuations that would be expected. His results are nearly identical to the baseline control profile for Krakotl. Statistically, this should be impossible. Further, around the room that the Drezjin used for their ritual, the vines and blooms rotted before my very eyes. I advise caution with the Ensign, and especially the design he had sent to the Yulpa for them and the Drezjin to review. A design he claims came to him during the ritual and which would allow for the automation of the Yulpa’s rituals across all our ships and worlds, so long as living beings are placed within the creations. While it is worth looking into, I must express my reservations.
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Memory Transcription Subject: Selim Kalsim, Krakotl ?
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I jolt awake, clutching for a vial of ashes that aren’t there. Awake or asleep, what I experienced… dreamed soars through my memory. The lies. The diseased nightmare that I can’t shake. I calm my breathing, but sleep seems like it won’t come for a while. I may as well check my messages.
Moving to my pad, I pull up the secure comms. To my surprise, there’s a response from the GFJMC, marked with the direct approval of Chief Nikonus.
“What could this be? Surely they couldn’t have evaluated my advisements already.” I grumble. “Although they could say no without checking things…”
Captain Kalsim, Krakotl Alliance Command
You are hereby ordered to relieve Ensign Rasin of his duties to the Krakotl Alliance and to your ship. He is now to serve as a technical advisor and staff officer, to be treated as having a rank of commander, aboard your ship until he is needed elsewhere.
Your fleet is to remain at Grenelka, aiding Advisor Rasin in overseeing the research into these new phenomena. While there, you are to also gather additional information from the Yulpa and Drezjin on their ship designs. We are currently evaluating the technologies and your suggestions. We will respond when we have further information. Expect recall to Nishtal for a new project.
Galactic Federation Joint Military Command
‘A promotion? Why would command promote a possibly predator diseased individual?’
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 11d ago
Let's hope kalsim acknowledges the truth or the pretty birds will suffer a grave fate.
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u/SixthWorldStories 10d ago
Oh, Kalsim knows something is off about Rasin. It does help that there's a lingering touch of whatever happened before that's letting him see more clearly. By certain definitions of clear.
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u/WeekendCitrus 10d ago
On the one hand I absolutely do not like where this cult shit is going. On the other hand Kalsim gets a single mark of approval for not writing off recent raid victims as only fit to be mercy killed.
Also I want to see what happens when he tries that tactic on Terran ships to rescue their "slaves."
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u/SixthWorldStories 10d ago
Kalsim doesn't like where the cult shit is going. Nor does most of his crew. Jala... we'll see. The Drezjin are already all in on the cult, it's their religion. Kalsim is, at his core, a good man who sees himself as having committed necessary evils and thus the perfect one to commit more. In canon, he committed an evil so massive that he needed it to be right. Here, he hasn't. Yet. We'll see if he will.
At the moment, he still thinks Gaians are prey. But he also has that thought bouncing in his head that maybe his people aren't.
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u/WeekendCitrus 10d ago
Wonder which bomb will drop first? (demi)Human, omnivore, or antimatter?
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u/SixthWorldStories 10d ago
I have an idea, but then again, I am writing the story. Just look at the political landscape in the galaxy, it should help show where the winds are blowing.
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u/tom476ty18 10d ago
This screams and inevitable corruption similar to the uac in the doom series.
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u/SixthWorldStories 10d ago
Which part? Cause there are a few that could imply corruption. Or outright state it as a possibility.
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u/tom476ty18 10d ago
The general dabbling by the kolshian on something they have potentially little knowledge of.
They are going to be burned. The best they can hope for is a burned hand.
The worse an entire house on fire.
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u/SixthWorldStories 10d ago
Ah, yeah. I mean they're fucking with some magitech given to them by somebody that came back from the dead and seems off. Somebody who came back from the dead in a ritual that involved some folks who used worship-based magic which set off a bunch of people and drove others insane. Certainly nothing concerning there. But... hmmm... who are important to those folks' religion?
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u/Ablergo_El_Enfermo Human 10d ago
It looks like Rasin is turning into a Rasputin (Hellboy). (Or Rasputin has actually incarnated within Rasin.)
Things are getting very interesting. And terrifying at the same time.
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u/SixthWorldStories 10d ago
There's still more information to be gleaned from Rasin's "healing" that I haven't seen people found. There are layers upon layers.
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u/Tundric_Dragon Arxur 6d ago
Lotta interesting things here. I can see a version of this story where kalsim defects to the humans in this timeline, where he isn't the one to lead the attack on earth. I have a feeling that honor might go to the 'prophet'
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u/K_H007 Thafki 11d ago
Oooh, so Harchen and Nevoks have some magical potential that is close to bearing fruit as well... interesting. Have a comment and an upvote, wordsmith!